A knife-wielding gang yesterday robbed a mainland man of between HK$350,000 and HK$400,000 (US$44,700-US$51,000), cash the victim had withdrawn using multiple bank cards at several Hong Kong ATMs in a bid to profit from currency exchange.
According to Sing Tao Headline, the 33-year-old victim, surnamed Liu, resides in Shenzhen but makes frequent visits to Hong Kong in order to withdraw money in HKD before taking it back to the mainland to profit from exchange rates.
After arriving in the city earlier this week, Liu set out in the early hours of Thursday morning with about 40 bank cards and visited several ATMs in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Police suspect Liu was trailed by six men who, at about 4am, surrounded him on Nathan Road as he prepared to return to his hotel.
Wielding knives, the gang punched him in the head, stole the bag containing the cash and also took his jacket and phone, which were worth about HK$4,000 together, reported on.cc.
Liu reported the theft upon returning to his hotel.
The practice of depositing cash in RMB and withdrawing it in HKD is reportedly becoming increasingly popular both as a means to profit from the currency exchange and to transfer money out of the mainland and dodge foreign exchange controls.
The Chinese government has introduced regulations limiting overseas withdrawals to RMB10,000 (HKD12,000) per day — controls that can be skirted by using multiple cards.
Last week, a Chinese man surnamed Xu was robbed of RMB240,000 (HKD286,000) by two men on a motorbike outside a bank in Sheung Shui, where he was preparing to deposit the cash.
