Police have arrested a waiter for money laundering and deception linked to a scam which cheated a 54-year-old woman out of 6.7 million yuan (MOP 7.45 million).
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said that the 27-year-old suspect is surnamed Leong.
The victim, surnamed Lao, attended an online investment course in October 2021 where the teacher of the course introduced her to an “investment expert”.
The “investment expert” suggested Lao to buy shares from a mainland Chinese company after adding each other as friends on a social media platform; she invested in the stock and earned a 50,000 yuan profit.
The victim later followed the scammer’s instructions and downloaded an app, which the “investment expert” claimed would provide “investment tips” as long as she paid money to the app.
Lao then transferred over 6.7 million yuan to multiple mainland China bank accounts given by the “customer service” (CS) of the app in October 2021. When Lao later requested the return of her money, the app’s CS declined. After losing contact with the “investment expert”, Lao finally sought help from the police.
During the investigation, the PJ identified Leong whom they assumed was linked to the scam due to his irregular bank transactions. Lou pointed out that Leong had transferred a total of 130,000 yuan, which the police tracked to coming from Lao’s bank account, from his bank account to multiple mainland Chinese bank accounts.
Leong was arrested on Friday, Lou said, adding that Leong denied the accusation and refused to cooperate.
Leong was taken to the Public Prosecutions Office, facing money laundering and fraud charges, according to Lou.
Police are still looking for other persons possibly involved and the whereabouts of Lao’s money, The Macau Post Daily reported.
