Scammers get Hong Kong accountant to stay in hotels for a week, steal HK$16 million from him
Police say 74-year-old fell to phone scammer who impersonated mainland government investigator, while alleged suspect in con possibly a victim himself
Phone scammers arranged for an elderly Hong Kong accountant to stay in hotels for a week to prevent him from contacting others and to give them enough time to steal HK$16 million (US$2 million) from his bank accounts.
The force said on Monday that the 74-year-old man only realised he had fallen victim to the con when officers located him in his office last week.
On September 7, officers arrested a 19-year-old man who was accused of arranging the hotel stay for the victim, according to Inspector Chan Yiu-hei of the Eastern criminal investigation unit.
Chan said a preliminary investigation suggested the suspect may himself be a victim of another fraud case. The teenager claimed he was accused by a fraud syndicate of being involved in a criminal case in mainland China.
“He was allegedly told by the syndicate that he needed to carry out a secret mission to reduce his guilt and atone for his fault,” Chan said.
The arrestee allegedly delivered a bogus confidentiality order and a forged investigation order to the 74-year-old victim, according to police.