Three mainland men apprehended in two aggravated robbery cases cracked down by the police recently were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for investigation and are now held under preventive detention.
According to preliminary investigation, the two suspects involved in the first case allegedly enticed the victim to bring a large amount of cash to a hotel room in Cotai under the pretext of gold transaction. The two suspects violently robbed the victim of HKD1.4 million in cash and tied the victim up with a bathrobe belt. The victim later managed to break free and chased after the two suspects outside the room. Eventually, the victim lodged a police report with the assistance of hotel security guard.
In the second case, the other suspect purchased adhesive tape in the Chinese Mainland in advance to serve as robbery tool in case he loses money in gambling in Macao. After arriving at Macao, the suspect lost all his gambling funds. He thus lured the victim to a hotel room under the guise of currency exchange. The suspect unexpectedly assaulted the victim with a wine bottle and tied the victim up with the adhesive tape that he had prepared. He finally robbed the victim of HKD 200,000 in casino chips.
The above three suspects received initial judicial interrogation at the Criminal Preliminary Hearing Court . After the hearing, the Court believed that there was strong indication that the three individuals had purportedly committed “aggravated robbery” as stipulated and penalized under article 204 paragraph 2(b) in conjunction with article 204 paragraph 1, article 198 paragraph 2(a) and article 196 paragraph (b) of the Penal Code. Given that the three suspects had premeditated and deliberately committed robbery, and in considering severity of the crimes, necessity to prevent the suspects from fleeing Macao and the risk of recommitting similar crimes, the Criminal Preliminary Hearing Court adopted the coercive measure of preventive detention upon the three suspects as proposed by the MP.
Pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code, the MP will continue to preside over subsequent investigation into the two cases.
To resolutely defend social peace and public interests, the MP will rigorously combat all illegal and criminal activities that disrupt public order and undermine social security in accordance with law, as well as hold perpetrators criminally accountable.
Members of the public shall stay vigilant and refrain from easily trusting others in any form of transactions or activities to prevent loss.