Man arrested for allegedly scamming pawnshop for HKD1.5 million

A man has been apprehended for scamming a local pawnshop for the sum of HKD1.5 million through pawning a counterfeit designer watch, the Judiciary Police (PJ) has announced.

On Mar. 16, the police received a report from a staff member of the pawnshop regarding the case. They then identified and arrested the suspect, a mainland man, 30, surnamed Li and reportedly a salesperson.

Another man, believed to be an accomplice, remains at large, the police added.

On Nov. 23 last year, Li and another man went to the pawnshop, itself located in the NAPE District, with the intention to pawn a designer watch for HKD1.5 million. At that time, Li produced the watch while the other man presented his own ID documents, for registration purposes. After completing the necessary procedures, the two received the money and left.

In January this year, a staff member of the pawnshop claimed nobody was interested in the watch, so it was sent for official maintenance in Hong Kong. Only then was it confirmed to be a counterfeited product.

Following the report, the police first commissioned professionals to inspect the watch. They confirmed it to be a fake. They also discovered that Li had left Macau after the incident and re-entered in the middle of this month. In light of this, the police deployed a team to track him down; he was due to leave Macau via the local airport, at 6 p.m. on Mar. 17.

The police added that Li did not cooperate with the investigation. A charge of swindling has been pressed against him.