Man fakes crime to avoid giving girlfriend new phone

A local university student made a fraudulent crime report to police to avoid buying his girlfriend a new cellphone for her birthday, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) announced yesterday.
The man, who is in his 20s, went to an ATM to withdraw MOP7,000 cash on November 7, before riding his motorbike to the Public Administration Building on Rua do Campo.
At about 4 p.m. the same day he went to a police station to make the false report, claiming that he had lost the money. He added that he had tried to retrieve the money by retracing the route, but that, since he did not find it, he suspected that somebody found the money and took it.
Following the report, the police viewed surveillance camera footage for clues but did not see the man on the reported route. Under further questioning, the man changed his testimony on various details.
Later, the man admitted that he faked the crime to avoid giving his girlfriend the promised phone. The phone was worth MOP7,000, but he found the expense to be unaffordable. and he made the report to provide an excuse.
In another case, a local man is suspected of deceiving a man, a friend of 10 years, in a casino chip exchange scam, the Judiciary Police (PJ) announced yesterday.
The 41-year-old suspect, surnamed Lei, reportedly worked in a casino chip exchange business. The male victim is a casino croupier.
In August 2019, Lei set up a fake business and invited his friend to invest. They agreed that Lei would invest HKD400,000 and his friend HKD200,000. They signed an agreement, and the victim transferred the money in three installments.
When the victim made the last installment in June this year, he asked Lei for an update on the business. Lei lied to him, saying that the money had been transferred to the account of a junket. Lei even presented a screen capture of a sham transfer confirmation.
Later, Lei told the friend that due to the economic downturn brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the investment funds had been invested in crypto currency instead. After his friend put further questions to him, Lei disappeared, which led to the case being reported to the police.
The PJ apprehended Lei on November 8 as he was about to leave Macau through the Border Gate. The suspect has denied the allegations, and the police is still searching for the funds.