Crime-in-crime uncovered as man appropriates suspicious MOP7M in funds

A man who has allegedly appropriated foreign currency equivalent to MOP7 million during his work for an illegal currency exchange group was arrested, the Judiciary Police reported.

The police disclosed that three months ago, a man started operating an illegal currency exchange in Macau, according to a report by local media Macao Daily News. He allegedly hired two mainland residents to receive funds in Macau. The funds were said to have been delivered to Macau from mainland China by parallel traders in multiple deliveries, with small amounts each time.

During the early hours on Monday, the purported business operator attempted to smuggle USD600,000 and EUR250,000 into Macau via the Border Gate checkpoint. The parallel traders were told to deliver the money to a shop rented by the operator. Two so-called employees were there to receive the funds, and one of them was subsequently arrested.

The arrested individual is surnamed Huang and is approximately 40 years old. Huang had overstayed in Macau for nearly a month and did not possess a valid working pass in Macau.

Around 8 a.m. the same day, the other purported employee contacted the purported boss and asked if Huang had been given permission to take all the funds. Failing to reach Huang, the purported business operator contacted the police.

At 3:45 p.m. on the same day, the PJ arrested Huang in a foot spa in the NAPE/ZAPE District. They found USD10,000 and RMB18,600 on Huang, who denied the allegations.

After preliminary investigations, the police charged Huang with a crime related to the abuse of trust. Huang was delivered to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation on Tuesday.

The investigations continued as the police continued tracing the funds to the purported employees, in an attempt to recover the remainder of the funds and determine if there were any other individuals involved in the case.

It was revealed that the purported business operator hired the two men for HKD10,000 per month. The purported operator faces allegations of improper employment and retaining illegal entrants. The police are also investigating the business operations of the leased shop.

In another case, the PJ arrested a man at large who had been sentenced to jail by a court of law for a sexual offence against a person incapable of resistance. He has been incarcerated in the prison in Coloane.

The Court of First Instance issued an arrest warrant to the PJ last week, demanding the arrest of a convicted man who was at large after committing a sexual offence. The man was sentenced to 4.5 years in jail by the court.

Police inspectors located the man hiding in a shop in the Toi-San District, only briefly venturing out late at night for grocery shopping.

After following him for days, the police intercepted the man on Oct. 15 and took him to the police headquarters for investigation. Upon confirming the man’s identity, the police delivered him to the prison.