China arrests 3 over $90m gold heist

2010-12-04 21:00

Beijing - Chinese police arrested three men on Friday in connection with the theft of $90m in gold from Hong Kong, the biggest in the territory's history, the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

The three men aged 39 to 45 were arrested in Guangdong, the Chinese province bordering the former British colony, and returned to Hong Kong.

The men are suspected of stealing 265 pieces of gold bullion weighing one kg each from a warehouse owned by a gold investment company in Hong Kong's New Territories, according to a report in the China Daily.

The suspects, two of whom worked for the company, escaped across the border. Hong Kong police identified them and asked Guangdong authorities to detain them, the statement said.

Police found most of the gold in a car on the Hong Kong side of the border.

- Reuters