Macau Judiciary Police Arrest Five Filipinas in Online Romance Scam and Money Laundering Case

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have dismantled a group of five Filipinas allegedly involved in fraud and money laundering activities, PJ spokesman Cheong Siu Keong announced during a special press conference yesterday.

Cheong identified the suspects as women aged between 38 and 49 who worked as cleaners, domestic helpers, and part-time employees. Their surnames were given as Inocencio, Gutierrez, Calimoso, Gabato, and Bacalso. He added that the case involved two victims, an elderly man and a middle-aged woman.

According to Cheong, the male victim approached the Judiciary Police on March 23 after realising he had been deceived in an online romance scam. The victim said he had met a woman online and eventually developed a romantic relationship with her through internet communications. The woman later claimed she intended to send him expensive gifts. However, she subsequently requested money from him under various pretexts, including fuel tax payments, customs penalties, and money laundering clearance fees.

Cheong said the victim transferred money on three separate occasions, amounting to a total of 32,700 patacas, into a designated bank account. When the promised gifts never arrived and the woman abruptly ceased communication, the victim realised he had been defrauded.

Investigators later discovered that the bank account belonging to Inocencio had received the fraudulent funds. The same account had also received 18,567 patacas from the female victim in the case. Cheong explained that the woman had similarly become a target of an online romance scam and had transferred money into the account after being persuaded to do so by a male netizen.

After the funds were deposited, Inocencio allegedly divided the money and transferred portions of it to other members of the group. Cheong stated that 40,633 patacas were moved into accounts controlled by Gutierrez, Calimoso, and Gabato before the cash was withdrawn from ATMs by Gutierrez and Bacalso.

According to investigators, Inocencio kept a five percent commission from the fraudulent proceeds, while the remaining money was shared proportionally among the other members of the group.

Cheong said officers from the Judiciary Police arrested all five women on Tuesday on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.

The suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, where they are expected to face charges related to fraud and money laundering.

Under Article 211 of the Macau Penal Code, fraud carries a prison sentence ranging from two to 10 years. Meanwhile, under Law No.2/2006, money laundering offences are punishable by imprisonment of up to eight years.

By fLEXI tEAM