CRIME | Counterfeit banknotes continue to be used by money exchange scammers

Money exchange gangs who are active in local casinos have been using training notes to trick gamblers, the Judiciary Police (PJ) reported yesterday during the joint police press conference.
As Macau’s visitor numbers slowly and steadily grow, the police authority is recording an increasing number of crimes taking place in casinos. During Monday’s police press conference, the PJ reported five cases in which the suspects were identified and apprehended. Four of these concerned gambling activities and three were directly linked to money exchange gangs.
In the first case, the suspect is a 33-year-old mainland man, surnamed Liu. Liu and his victim met in a local casino and exchanged the money face-to-face. The victim transferred 52,650 yuan to a mainland bank account, the details of which were provided by Liu. In return, Liu gave his victim a bag of counterfeit notes (Hong Kong dollars) which are used for training bank employees.
In the second case, the suspect is a 48-year-old mainland woman, surnamed Yang. Yang and her victim met in a hotel room to exchange currency. Her victim first transferred 87,580 yuan to a mainland bank account Yang had provided. The victim then received a bag of training notes in return.
A 25-year-old mainland man surnamed Wu is a suspect in the third case. Like the others, Wu and his victim met in a hotel room to exchange currency. His victim transferred 88,200 yuan to a mainland bank account provided by Wu. In return, Wu gave the victim one hundred training notes.
In each of these three cases, the victims had no previous contact with or knowledge of the suspects. All parties came into contact through other people and on social media.
All three of the suspects denied the accusations of aggravated fraud, claiming that they were paid by other people to meet with the victims and deliver the counterfeit notes. They claimed they had no knowledge about the true nature of the notes.
Liu and Wu said that they were given a one-off payment to deliver the notes, while Yang told police officers that she receives base income of 6,000 yuan monthly plus commission for each delivery she completes.
The suspects were all allegedly hired by other people in Zhuhai. The PJ has sent all three to the prosecution authority.
In addition to the money exchange scams, the PJ also disclosed information about an usury case. The suspect in this case is 37-year-old mainland man, surnamed Fu. Fu’s victim, who is also a mainland man, borrowed 115,000 Hong Kong dollars from him to gamble. The daily interest on the loan was 20%. The victim lost all the money while gambling. Fu would have been able to collect a total of HKD22,000 from all of the victim’s previous winning gambling bets as interest. After the victim lost all the money, the two left the casino and had an argument on the street. During their argument, patrolling police officers spotted the two men arguing and learnt about the usury.
Police cancel blue card
before court verdict
The Public Security Police Force (PSP) normally cancel a person’s blue card the moment the department believes there is evidence to prove their guilt in a crime.
During yesterday’s police press conference, the PSP reported a sexual harassment case involving a mainland worker in his 40’s. The man is accused of sexually harassing two women during a border crossing to Macau.
The case has been delivered to the prosecution authority and the PSP has canceled the man’s blue card. According to the PSP, although there is not a court verdict, the PSP believes that there is strong evidence of the man’s guilt. A PSP spokesperson also revealed that it is a common practice for the PSP to nullify a person’s blue card before a court verdict is available.