University student arrested for defrauding $1.36m, posing as mainland police

A local university student was arrested on suspicion of obtaining property by deception after being accused of posing as mainland public security officer and scamming a total of HK$1.36 million from eight victims.

According to police, the 20-year-old male suspect convinced the victims that they were implicated in money laundering or scam activities and required them to participate in a covert investigation.

The suspect also arranged “agents” to meet with the victims to sign confidentiality agreements, ultimately demanding they transfer money for “investigative purposes.”

Police noted that the suspect is believed to be controlled by a fraud syndicate, which provided him with HK$10,000 to purchase forged documents and offered a reward for each successful case.

During his arrest on Tuesday (Apr 29), police discovered a forged police warrant card and seized tools used to fabricate such documents.

The eight victims, aged between 18 and 66, include students, designers, makeup artists, and retired individuals. The scam came to light after one victim reported the incident to the police, leading to the discovery of the suspect's involvement in seven other similar cases.

The investigation revealed that the suspect isolated victims by requiring them to stay in hotel rooms alone for these "confidential investigations" and wait for "agents" to deliver documents, thus preventing them from seeking help from outside.

Furthermore, the suspect lured victims into transferring their savings, including cash, foreign currency, and commemorative notes from their households, under the pretext of emergency investigations.

(Judy Cui)