A local man was arrested on Friday in the mainland for cheating his friend out of MOP 2 million (US$251,000), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kam Fai said at a regular press conference on Monday.
The suspect is a 44-year-old jobless local man surnamed Iek.
According to Cheong, a 46-year-old man reported to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) through his lawyer on 22 June that he had been cheated by his friend, Iek, out of MOP 2 million. The victim had known Iek since childhood and Iek knew that the victim had recently sold his flat in Macao for MOP 3.88 million. Iek asked the victim to temporarily deposit MOP 2 million into his bank account as he needed proof that he had sufficient funds in his bank account to apply for a syndicated loan for a business deal.
The victim then twice deposited sums of MOP 1 million into Iek’s bank account. Iek later came up with a lot of excuses and never returned the money to the victim. Afterwards, the victim was unable to contact Iek so he reported the case to the Public Prosecutions Office through his lawyer.
Cheong said MP officers transferred the case to Judiciary Police whose officers discovered that Iek had never applied to the bank for a loan and that he had absconded to the mainland.
PJ officers asked the Public Security Bureau (PSB) in the mainland for assistance in the case through Interpol. PJ officers received notification from the Public Security Bureau officers in the mainland on Friday that they had arrested Iek who was then transferred to the Judiciary Police the following day.
Under questioning, Iek denied that he defrauded the victim but admitted that he had got MOP 2 million from the victim. He later went to the mainland as he was unable to repay the money. Iek refused to reveal the whereabouts of the money.
Iek was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office on Saturday for follow-up investigation, facing a fraud charge, according to Cheong.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
PHOTO © Macau Photo Agency
