Man arrested for goldsmith robbery, fraud

A Vietnamese man is facing criminal charges after becoming the main suspect in a robbery and fraud case involving a goldsmith.
The 33-year-old suspect has been working in a restaurant in Macau. The robbery took place at approximately 5 p.m. on April 2, at Rua de Camilo Pessanha in San Ma Lou, when the store was still open.
Upon entering the shop, the suspect pretended to be a customer. He selected two items worth 33,000 patacas and dashed out of the shop without paying for them. Before the actual robbery took place, he had visited the goldsmith several times to case the area.
After committing the crime, the suspect, who was sharing an apartment with many other workers, did not return to his apartment. He took a public bus to leave the scene and went to a pawn shop to exchange the stolen items for cash. Later, he went to a casino located in the central district, where he lost all the money gambling.
At midnight on April 5, Judiciary Police (PJ) officers waited at the man’s apartment and arrested him when he arrived.
The PJ investigation revealed that the man claimed to have had purposely injured himself by cutting his left wrist with a knife because he felt guilty about the crime. The PJ found him in a state of confusion and sent him to the hospital to receive medical treatment.
The suspect admitted to his crime. As result of his gambling, he fell into debt, owing 100,000 patacas in total. He also confessed to the PJ to having stolen some 20,000 patacas from his employer.
The PJ charged him with aggravated theft and fraud and forwarded him to the prosecution authority. JZ