Chinese police have arrested a former Macau casino VIP room employee for the theft of nearly HKD 5.5m (US $705k) in cash and casino chips.

Way back in March 2016, Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) were alerted to the internal theft of HKD 5m in cash and a further HKD 430k in chips from an unidentified casino in Macau’s ZAPE district.

The theft was reportedly carried out by a casino employee who was given the key to the casino’s cage by another staffer, allegedly for safekeeping. Instead, the thief used the key to purloin the cash and chips, after which he fled to the Chinese mainland and apparently vanished without a trace.

However, this week the PJ announced that the Guangdong Public Security Department had identified and apprehended the alleged thief in Zhongshan City on October 2. On October 6, the man was transferred to the custody of the PJ, who are continuing their investigation into the theft and the ultimate whereabouts of the missing HKD 5.5m. The man is expected to be face the appropriately named charge of “abuse of trust (massive amount).”