Police bust Health Code fraud syndicate

 

A gang that fakes Health Codes to enable border crossing between Macau and Zhuhai has recently been apprehended, the Judiciary Police (PJ) announced yesterday.
According to the police, this is the first time that this type of crime has been discovered. The police revealed that the syndicate collected the personal details of non-resident workers who frequently enter and exit Macau. These details were then used to make Macau and Guangdong Health Codes for profit.
The police arrested two individuals: a local man named Fu, aged 49 years, and a Mainland woman named Cao, aged 33 years. The police have pressed charges against them, including computerized fraudulence and breaching disease control measures, among others.
The pair were accidentally discovered by the security team at the Border Gate. At 2:30 p.m. on July 13, Cao was hurrying from Macau to Zhuhai in the hopes of catching a flight from Jinwan Airport in Zhuhai.
Fu started a conversation with her, saying that he could provide assistance. Therefore, the two tried to pass through immigration together. At the border checkpoint, Cao presented to the security guard a paper-form negative Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result issued on July 4, but she could not pass through because the result had expired.
About half an hour later, the pair re-appeared at the Border Gate. This time, Cao showed a Macau Health Code with a valid negative PCR test result to the security guard. Considering the short period of time, the guard asked the woman to stay for further clarification by the Health Bureau.
The bureau later discovered that the name, ID number and birthdate on the Health Code did not match Cao’s. Cao confessed to the police that she paid HKD800 for a Macau Health Code and a Guangdong Health Code. Fu confessed that he received HKD200 on each occasion, and the rest went to accomplices in the mainland.

Categories Macau