Two men have been arrested for allegedly stealing gold pellets worth around HK$30 million.

The arrests came after police received a report early on Wednesday from a man who claimed his gold pellets had been swapped for bottles of fabric softener and his companion had gone missing while they were staying at a hotel in Kwun Tong.

Officers arrested a suspect in Tai Po later in the day and recovered all the stolen gold from a hostel room.

Another man was arrested at Lo Wu control point as he tried to leave Hong Kong.

The two suspects, aged 27 and 41, were both mainlanders here on two-way permits and have been detained.

“Investigations show that the robbery was meticulously planned,” said chief inspector Tang Tsz-hin of the Kwun Tong District crime division.

“The alleged mastermind was a friend of the victim. He was suspected of arranging for two other men to purchase fabric softener equal in weight to the gold and book an adjoining hotel room,” he said.

“While the victim left the hotel room for a brief moment to smoke, his friend allegedly opened the door to allow the two men to make the swap. It's thought it took two minutes for them to successfully swap the 30 kilogrammes of gold.”

Tang said investigators believe the third suspect, the victim's companion, had left Hong Kong and that officers are attempting to trace his whereabouts.



Edited by Tony Sabine