CRIME | Police catch illegal driver using surveillance cameras

The Public Security Police Force (PSP) confirmed the occurrence of a serious car accident involving four people in their twenties, one of whom was severely injured, in Coloane early yesterday morning.
The police added that a passenger, surnamed Leong, who turned out to be the owner of the car, claimed to be driving at the time of the accident. This statement was found to be untruthful with the assistance of surveillance camera footage.
The other three people involved in the accident are all female, surnamed Chui, Choi and Lam. Chui was driving the car at the time of the accident.
According to the PSP, Leong was in a sleeveless shirt at the scene, while the footage showed that the actual driver was not. Chui was driving illegally as she was doing so without a license, the police said.
Alcohol was found in Lam but not the other three. While Lam was not driving or involved in the obstruction of justice, she was severely injured. As of yesterday afternoon, both she and Leong were still under medical care at the Conde São Januário Hospital.
The accident happened after a night out in the NAPE district. A statement given to the police indicated that the four were enjoying the nightlife until around 5 a.m. yesterday. Then they decided to have breakfast in Coloane and drove there.
It was not clear whether Chui started driving from their starting point in NAPE or if she took the wheel at some point during the journey, but the police were told that she had expressed an interest in driving the car. The car crashed on Estrada de Cheoc Van.

Mind belongings when flying, says police
A total of three cases of aircraft theft were reported to both the Judiciary Police (PJ) and the PSP, according to information released during a press conference yesterday. Suspects were caught on the scene in two of the cases, while the other suspect is on the run.
In the case uncovered on September 3, the suspect is surnamed Chen and from the mainland. At 11 a.m. on that day, a report was received from the flight deck of a plane flying in from Krong Preah Sihanouk, Cambodia. A passenger’s cash was reportedly stolen during the flight.
The victim told the police that while moving to the washroom during the flight, he realized the money in his bag, which was put in the overhead compartment, was nowhere to be found.
The victim inquired with the cabin crew, who told the victim that a Chinese-looking man was seen taking out and searching through his bag. Afterwards, the bag was placed back into the compartment.
The victim confronted the suspect, who denied the accusation and claimed the bag was taken out by mistake. Nonetheless, the victim discovered a white airsickness bag under the seat of the suspect.
In the bag, there was a total of HKD10,000, RMB1,100, MYR1,500 and USD115. As the victim recognized the sums of cash, he requested police investigation. Under investigation, the suspect confessed and was charged with aggravated theft.
Another case on a flight en route to Macau from Beijing, occurred on September 8 and involved a suspect from the mainland, surnamed Zhang.
As in the previous case, the victim’s bag was placed in the overhead compartment. His wallet, with HKD1,100 and USD400, was in the bag.
He noticed Zhang was sitting behind him when he visited the washroom. As he was just entering the washroom, he noticed that Zhang had taken out his bag from the compartment and started searching through it. The victim immediately approached and confronted Zhang.
Zhang claimed he was in search of a newspaper that he spotted in the compartment. He intended to reach for it but as he could not, he thought it was under the victim’s bag.
The police conducted a search on the suspect and found various currencies, namely Hong Kong dollar, Chinese renminbi, Malaysian ringgit, U.S. dollar, Singapore dollar, Philippine peso, Swiss franc and euros. The police say that they suspect all of the cash was stolen.
The suspect has been passed to the Public Prosecutions Office under the charge of aggravated theft.
In the final case reported yesterday, the suspect is still on the run.
The male victim, who claims a loss of HKD7,000, is a tourist from mainland China. Like the previous two victims, he put his bag, along with his wallet, in the overhead compartment upon boarding the plane. He discovered that his money went missing when he arrived at a hotel in Cotai, and reported the case to the police.

MOP45K lost in unseen girlfriend scam
A man was scammed out of a sum MOP45,000 in search of enjo-kosai, the practice of “compensated dating,” whereby young women in parts of Asia provide companionship or sex to men in exchange for money or luxuries. The case was reported to the police on September 7.
The male victim, a 24-year-old Macau resident, met a girl over a social media platform on September 4. The girl chatted with him using Chinese pinyin (transliteration).
The girl disclosed to the victim that she was willing to provide a compensated dating service, which would include dinners, watching movies and massages. She put a price tag of MOP500 per occasion.
They then agreed to meet at Fai Chi Kei. At the supposed meeting time, the girl told the man that the “service fee” should be paid in the form of gaming cards. She instructed the man to buy gaming cards that were worth MOP8,000 as a first installment.
Later on, the man was instructed to buy cards worth MOP14,000. The girl explained that this was to ensure he was not an undercover police officer.
Later, he was told to buy MOP23,000 worth of cards to become a “VIP member”, which would unlock a series of perks for him. He followed the girl’s instructions again.
Unlike in some other recent cases, in which third party males acted as middlemen, the victim was in communication with the girl during the entire period and presumably scammed by her. Anthony Lam