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The suspect and his wife (both hooded) taken away by police on Wednesday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Sad romance: tin-roof hut tenant loses HK$3.6 million in scam that began with a dating app

Victim said to be a dessert master handling her family’s savings for a new home

An alleged sweet-talking con artist was arrested on suspicion of cheating a 24-year-old woman out of HK$3.6 million in a romantic scam, police said on Thursday.

The suspect, 34, his wife, mother and a male friend were picked up in a series of raids in Mong Kok, Tin Shui Wai and Sau Mau Ping on Wednesday.

Officers seized HK$900,000 in cash and valuables in the operation and impounded a newly-bought Mercedes-Benz that police believed had been purchased with crime proceeds.

Police suspected HK$800,000 deposited into a bank account of the suspect’s 61-year-old mother was also crime proceeds.

Crime-squad officers were investigating whether other victims were cheated and had not come forward, a source said.

“Officers will check the suspect’s phone records and computer as part of the investigation,” he said.

The two men and two women, aged between 28 and 61, were arrested on suspicion of obtaining properties by deception, handling crime proceeds and handling stolen properties.

Police said the victim, who works as a dessert master, met the scammer through a mobile phone dating app earlier this year before she was lured to invest in stocks.

Between April and May, she handed over HK$3.6 million in total to the “lover” for investment purposes before she lost contact with him, the source said.

It was understood the victim came from a family of five living in a tin-roof village hut in Lok Ma Chau and that the money represented the family’s savings towards buying a new home.

Yuen Long detectives began their investigation after receiving a report on June 14.

After a month-long probe, police caught the suspect and his wife, 28, in a Mong Kok flat at about 7pm on Wednesday. His mother was later picked up in her Tin Shui Wai home, while his male friend, 28, was arrested in Sau Mau Ping.

By Thursday afternoon, the suspects were being held for questioning at Yuen Long police station and none of them had been charged.

Police figures showed there were 28 reports of online romantic scams involving HK$19.23 million in the first three months of this year. Over the same period last year, police handled nine cases that involved HK$3.45 million.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Woman hands over HK$3.6m in love scam
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