Macau, China, July 2, 2026 (Lusa) - The Macau Judiciary Police have arrested a man for allegedly embezzling 2.1 million yuan (around €281,000) in funds paid by a client from mainland China for an investment visa in Portugal.
According to a statement published on the Macau PJ’s official social media channels, the investigation revealed that the suspect used the sums transferred by the victim to pay off his own debts.
On 25 June, the PJ received a complaint from a man from mainland China, who stated that he had entrusted a Macau resident with applying for an investment visa for immigration to Portugal, suspecting that the fees paid “had been embezzled”.
The territory’s police authorities stated that the complainant identified the suspect as the head of a local media company in Macau.
“In July 2025, during a meeting between the two, the suspect allegedly claimed that he could obtain a D2 Business Immigration Visa for Portugal in return for a payment of three million yuan [around €387,000], undertaking to complete the process by February 2026,” the PJ reported.
The D2 visa, also known as the entrepreneur visa, is a residence permit for non-European Union citizens who wish to set up, manage or invest in a business, or work as a self-employed person or freelancer in Portugal.
“Subsequently, a service contract was signed between the two parties,” the PJ statement noted.
Between September and October 2025, the victim transferred a total of 2.5 million yuan (around €322,000) to a designated bank account in mainland China, as instructed by the suspect.
The remaining 500,000 yuan (around €64,000) was only to be paid once the visa application had been finalised.
“However, by March 2026, the visa had still not been processed, with the suspect repeatedly delaying the procedure under various pretexts,” the PJ stated.
Suspicious of the situation, the victim contacted the agency where the suspect worked, which was responsible for handling the immigration paperwork, and discovered that the man had only made an initial payment of €41,000 in October 2025 and had not settled any subsequent instalments.
The PJ confirmed that the suspect had indeed engaged a “legitimate investment immigration agency” to handle the victim’s application and that the applicant’s documentation met the required regulatory standards.
“However, following payment of the first instalment, the suspect allegedly informed the agency that the victim had not yet paid the processing fees, using this pretext to request repeated delays in the progress of the application,” the Macau PJ further explained.
The police also stated that the suspect had been referred to the public prosecutor's office for further investigation, on suspicion of committing the offence of aggravated breach of trust involving a large sum of money, an offence punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine.
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