An unemployed man has been charged after cheating a retired individual out of nearly HK$3 million.
Hon Chun-yin, 22, appeared in court after being charged with one count of obtaining property by deception. The defendant became acquainted with the scam victim through cold calling.
Under the pretense of introducing investment opportunities to the victim, Hon purportedly obtained HK$1 million. It was alleged that he then twice took the retiree to a finance company to take out a mortgage. He is said to have cheated the victim out of $HK2.92 million.
The scam was discovered in March when the retiree became suspicious after losing contact with Hon. The individual later found that his company had closed down and alerted the police.
The defendant was arrested last Friday at the Lok Ma Chau border as he was returning to Hong Kong from mainland China.
The case was first heard in court on Monday at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court. The defence lawyer requested bail for the defendant and argued that the case belonged to the category of commercial disputes and not fraud. He also pointed out that the defendant’s wife, who was pregnant, needed taking care of.
The magistrate refused to grant bail and the case was adjourned to August 21, after a police lineup is conducted.
