Japanese police suspect that the victim of a yen robbery in Sheung Wan on Friday (Jan 30) was also targeted in a failed robbery at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport the previous day.
(Read more: Two Japanese men robbed of 58m yen in Sheung Wan; suspect caught at airport）
Two Japanese men were robbed of 58 million yen (HK$2.94 million) outside a currency exchange shop in the basement of Hing Yip Commercial Centre in Sheung Wan. Sources said one suspect was later arrested at the airport.
According to Japanese media, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department believed that a victim in the Sheung Wan case was the same person targeted in a robbery attempt at Haneda Airport on Thursday night (Jan 29).
Local media reported that a Japanese man in his 50s, who works in currency exchange, was carrying a suitcase containing 190 million yen when four suspects approached him in a parking lot at Haneda Airport. The suspects allegedly sprayed pepper spray in an attempted robbery, but failed and fled in a white getaway car.
The man reportedly later travelled to Hong Kong.
Japanese police said the victim’s age, occupation and the amount of cash involved was consistent with that in the Sheung Wan case, and investigations were under way to determine whether the two incidents were linked.
Separately, five currency exchange workers were robbed of 420 million yen near Ueno-Okachimachi Station in Tokyo’s Taito ward later that night. Police are also investigating whether the case is related, as the cash was reportedly bound for Hong Kong.
