Three men have been jailed in Hong Kong for trying to blackmail a university student out of HKD650,000 after he fell for a casino scam in Macau.
The court heard To Ngo-bond, aged 23, sold the use of his bank account to the swindlers for money laundering purposes and that more than HKD6 million passed through it.
Mr To and a friend were at a gaming table in the Wynn Macau casino last July when a man who claimed to be a casino promoter approached them. He persuaded them to take out a club membership offering free ferry tickets, hotel accommodation and sauna services. Mr To was then talked into going to the nearby Casino Lisboa with the man and an accomplice. There Mr To was provided with betting chips and proceeded to rack up what he was told amounted to HKD650,000 in losses.
Some time later the men visited Mr To at his Hong Kong home, where they told his mother to pay the ‘debt’ but she kept them talking and called the police instead.
In sentencing, the judge said the scam was common in Macau and required an extensive network both there and in Hong Kong to carry out.
