Hong Kong police have arrested two people for allegedly tricking a woman into having sex with one of the suspects under the pretence of changing her luck, while duping her out of HK$400,000 (US$51,300).
The pair, a 30-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, were arrested on Friday over inducing the victim to engage in sexual intercourse and conspiracy to defraud.
The man was believed to have posed as a professional tarot card reader, while the other suspect had acted as an administrator for an Instagram account for fortune-telling, the force said on Saturday.
Police said the victim filed a report on Thursday that alleged she earlier met the tarot card reader on Instagram and was told she could change her luck by having sex with him.
They then allegedly had sex at the victim’s home in Ngau Tau Kok during the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to the force.
“Later in the afternoon the victim was tricked into coming to a commercial flat in Kwun Tong where the man swindled her out of HK$300,000 cash and credit card consumption coupons worth HK$100,000 to make high-return investments,” police said.
“Later the man even demanded that the victim increase the investment amount and to have sex with him again. The victim felt scared so she made a report to police.”
The force later arrested the man and raided three flats in a commercial building in Kwun Tong, where officers apprehended the 25-year-old woman believed to be the administrator of the Instagram page.
Police at the scene also discovered HK$20,000 worth of suspected crime proceeds, various items believed to be fortune-telling tools, a stash of condoms, computer equipment, a record book, a banknote counter, as well as bank and phone cards.
“We believe we have dissolved this syndicate. The three units are believed to have been used for one month for the syndicate’s expansion,” the force said.
Police also said they believed the man had sought to use the Instagram account to trick victims into having sex with him under the pretence of altering their luck.
“They then deceived the victim into handing out a large amount of cash for high-return investments,” the force said. “People should be vigilant against this kind of fraud.”
Chief Inspector Man Cheuk-hei said the Instagram page claimed to provide fortune-telling services at prices ranging from a few hundred to thousands of Hong Kong dollars.
The force said the investigation was ongoing and no other victims had come forward so far.
