Crime | Cousin steals MOP1 million worth of jewelry, watches to gamble online

A 19-year-old local student has been accused of aggravated theft after allegedly stealing two pieces of jewelry and four watches worth MOP1,055,000 from two of his cousins, the Judiciary Police (PJ) reported yesterday in a specially organized press conference.
The case was revealed when the two victims, sisters and both in their 20s, reported the loss of the items in the early hours of December 27.
According to the complaint filed to the PJ, at around 11 p.m. on December 26, one of the sisters discovered that two of her expensive watches and one diamond encrusted bracelet (valued at MOP696,000 in total) had disappeared from a drawer in her bedroom in an apartment located at Rua do Chunambeiro.
Alerted by her sister’s discovery, the second victim also searched her bedroom and realized that she had also lost two valuable watches and one jade bracelet (valued at MOP359,000 in total).
The PJ investigators in charge of the preliminary investigation found that there were no signs of a break-in on the doors and windows of the apartment. This led the investigators to suspect that the theft was performed by someone familiar with the house, who had access to it without needing to break and enter.
While the PJ was investigating the case, the victims attended the PJ headquarters once again, this time accompanied by their cousin, whom they suspected.
The local student confessed to having committed the crimes in question, and claimed to have done the acts on two different occasions. The first occurred around September this year and the second in October.
He also said that he pawned the goods for a total of HKD170,000, which he then lost to online gambling.
Following this lead, the PJ found three of the four watches and the jade bracelet at a local pawn shop. They are continuing to search for the final missing watch and the diamond encrusted bracelet.
The suspect has been presented to the Public Prosecutions Office to be charged with aggravated theft.