A 34-year-old man was robbed in broad daylight of about HK$1.1 million (more than US$140,500) in Sheung Shui in Hong Kong’s New Territories on Wednesday.
At around 9am, the victim, surnamed Chan, who is believed to be a parallel trader (someone who takes advantage of Hong Kong’s multiple-entry visa policy to import goods from the city to mainland China), said he had more than HK$1.1 million in his backpack when he was attacked by two men with steel rods outside the Metropolis Plaza shopping center on Lung Wan Street in Sheung Shui, Sing Tao Daily reported.
The robbers, wearing caps and masks, snatched his bag and fled. Chan, bleeding from a head wound, was sent to North District Hospital for medical treatment after a passer-by called the police.
Chan had met a man earlier at a car show who offered him a discount on Maxim’s mooncake coupons, Wen Wei Po reported. On Wednesday, Chan went with three friends to Sheung Shui to make the deal.
Chan planned to use the money in his backpack to buy 2,000 mooncake coupons, while his friends also carried hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to police source.
While they were waiting for the vendor in the shopping mall, Chan went outside for a smoke and was attacked by the two masked men.
At 7:30pm, police arrested a 26-year-old man in Sheung Shui on suspicion of connection to the robbery, but were continuing to hunt for the two masked men who allegedly attacked Chan.
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on October 4 this year but people have already started buying mooncakes, the traditional delicacy marking the festival, including tourists from the mainland and parallel traders.
The price of Maxim’s lava custard mooncake, which is very popular in mainland China this year, is HK$349 for one box in Hong Kong, but in Shenzhen, it sells for 418 yuan (US$63), equal to about HK$500.
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