Police are searching for a swindler who used the ol’ switcheroo to swipe a HK$500,000 (US$64,000) diamond from a jewelry shop in Hung Hom.
According to the SCMP, the middle-aged man entered the Whampoa Garden branch of MaBelle jewelry company on Tuesday posing as a big spender. Carrying a Louis Vuitton shoulder bag and speaking Mandarin, the man asked to see a 2-carat diamond.
The man left the shop after five minutes without buying anything.
An attendant, however, soon realized he’d taken something, as the jewel he’d inspected had been switched with a fake.
“An investigation showed the culprit switched the real diamond with a fake without being noticed by the employees who served him,” a police source told the SCMP.
Police told the newspaper that the man, who was last seen leaving on foot towards Hung Hom MTR station, appeared to have acted alone.
They are currently investigating whether he cased the shop prior to the robbery and whether other stores have been hit.
The theft happened two days into an annual police operation to step up patrols surrounding retails stores around holiday season, when robberies traditionally spike.
