Three arrested for alleged construction scam

Two men and a woman have been arrested for allegedly scamming a six-digit sum of money by impersonating waterproof work professionals, the Judiciary Police (PJ) announced yesterday.

The three suspects, all from mainland China, are aged between 33 and 40 years. The police have identified them as having connections to a criminal syndicate. The police said four people had fallen victim to the fraud.

According to the police, the syndicate had advertised its “waterproof work” on social media platforms. When they received queries, they would dress up in work clothes and pretend to be inspecting the situation. They would then quote their clients for MOP688 or MOP988 per catty (500g) of waterproof materials, and claim that only one catty would be needed.

One victim decided to take the MOP688 plan. The three started working immediately but later claimed that over 70 catty of materials were used “due to a more serious condition than evaluated,” requesting MOP50,000 from the victim. The victim paid MOP40,000 and was allowed to settle the remainder later. After discussing the incident with family, the victim approached the police on July 30.

Investigations revealed three other victims, who lost MOP23,000, MOP30,000 and MOP13,000.

On Aug. 1, the police arrested the two men at the Border Gate checkpoint, and the woman at the local casino. They confessed that the materials were worth several hundreds of Chinese yuan only. The profits were shared among themselves and the syndicate handlers, with 30% to them and 70% to the syndicate.

The police have requested that people who have had similar experiences contact them.