PSP detains woman for appropriating lost wallet

The Public Security Police Force (PSP) has detained a woman from the mainland holding a permit to visit family members in Macau, for the appropriation of a wallet left at a hotel in Cotai by a tourist, a police force spokesperson revealed yesterday, during the regular joint press conference of the local police forces.

According to the report from the 24-year-old victim made on the afternoon of October 3, she dropped the wallet somewhere at the hotel containing HKD22,000 in cash, as well as a casino cash voucher worth another HKD700.

Making use of the surveillance footage from the hotel as well as the public street surveillance system (Eyes in the Sky), the police managed to identify and trace the suspect, a 56-year-old woman, to an apartment located in the Northern district.

On October 3 around 10 p.m. police officers arrived at the apartment where the suspect’s family members live, and were able to find both the suspect and the wallet still containing all the valuables.

The woman admitted to the crime, saying that she had picked up the lost wallet and brought it with her. She allegedly said she had kept it out of greed.

In a separate report from the same police force, a 48-year-old woman working in Macau as a domestic worker was also caught by the police for having picked up a 500-patacas banknote from the street. The case dates back to July this year when a local 68-year-old woman reported the loss of this money.

Also using the Eyes in the Sky surveillance system, the PSP managed to identify and trace the suspect, and brought her to the police station for questioning in late September.

Both suspects have already been sent to the Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation and accusation of the crime of illegal appropriation of found items.