Crime | Baby in serious condition after suspected mistreatment by maid

A six-month-old baby has been admitted to the Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Center (CHCSJ) bearing clear signs of mistreatment.    

The Judiciary Police (PJ) stated at a press conference yesterday that the sole suspect at present is the family’s domestic helper, a 32-year-old Vietnamese woman.

On January 26, the domestic helper called the child’s parents upon discovering the baby unconscious in their Taipa home.

The family rushed to the hospital, where the attending physician diagnosed the child’s condition as life-threatening and identified several signs of mistreatment. In particular, he stated the child had been violently grabbed and shaken to the point of unconsciousness.

After receiving the report, the PJ detained the domestic helper for questioning. Although she denied all wrongdoing, the police took the view that there was sufficient proof to commence criminal proceedings and transferred the suspect to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP).

In a separate case, the PJ has taken into custody a 49-year-old Hong Kong man who swindled a local jewelry shop out of HKD470,000 worth of goods last summer.

The shop owner who filed the complaint stated that the man was a regular customer. He was a familiar enough face that the owner allowed him to take two diamond rings from the shop without immediate payment, at the same time that he ordered a third diamond ring that he claimed he would pick up a few days later.

The man returned a few days later to collect the third ring, handing the owner a check for HKD470,000 to pay for the three items.

When the shop owner tried to deposit the check, he was informed by the bank that the payment had been rejected as the signature on the check did not match that of the account holder.

The owner tried to contact the man several times, but he repeatedly attempted to postpone payment. The owner eventually filed a report with the PJ on September 25, 2017.

The PJ intercepted the man at the border checkpoint when he tried to leave the region. After being taken into questioning, the man confessed to the crime, explaining to the PJ that he had immediately pledged the rings to a pawnshop in exchange for gambling money. 

He also admitted that the check was from his girlfriend and he had taken it without her consent, after which he added that he had lost all the money at the casino. 

January phone scams cause losses of MOP190,000

THE PJ announced today that phone scams reported between January 1 and 28 led to losses of MOP190,000 in total. It received reports from 13 victims, all of whom were either local residents or university students. The PJ added that a popular new scam among criminals is to cite false administrative infractions involving the victims, usually related to a package shipped to mainland China via a logistics company.