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Three Mainlanders who entered into bogus marriages with Hong Kong residents were today (January 5) given jail sentences ranging from 12 to 18 months after appearing in Sha Tin Magistrates' Court.
The first case involved 38-year-old Mainlander Gao Jianli who pleaded guilty to two counts of making false representation to an Immigration officer. Gao was given an effective sentence of 18 months.
Mainland visitor Chen Yongzeng, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud and was jailed for 12 months.
In the third case, Xu Minghong, 37, who pleaded guilty to one count of making false representation to an Immigration officer and one count of conspiracy to defraud was jailed for 18 months.
Immigration investigators intercepted the three men inside a boarding house during an anti-illegal worker operation on December 12, 2006. All three had endorsements for visiting their resident wives but an investigation was launched because there was some doubt about their matrimonial relationships with their wives.
Gao admitted entering into a bogus marriage on the Mainland with a female Hong Kong resident at a cost of $23,000 with a view to obtaining an exit endorsement to seek illegal employment in Hong Kong. Gao visited Hong Kong in March, 2005, and November, 2006, declared that he was visiting his resident wife when in fact, he only stayed to seek illegal employment.
Chen admitted that he had entered into a bogus marriage with a Hong Kong female resident in July, 2005, and made use of the bogus relationship to apply for an exit endorsement to enter Hong Kong for illegal employment.
Xu paid 35,000 renminbi to marry a Hong Kong female resident in Hong Kong in August, 2006, in order to obtain an exit endorsement, which allowed him to stay longer in Hong Kong to seek illegal employment. In October, 2006, Xu arrived in Hong Kong. He also said he had come to visit his wife, but in fact he came to seek illegal employment.
An Immigration spokesman said the department had been very concerned about non-Hong Kong residents obtaining the right to stay in Hong Kong by means of bogus marriages. "A special task force has been set up to gather intelligence through various avenues and a thorough investigation will be conducted once evidence comes to light. If there is enough evidence, the department will prosecute the offenders.
"For people who have obtained their residence in Hong Kong by fraudulent means, their Hong Kong identity card and residence status will be declared invalid according to the laws of Hong Kong. They will also be subject to removal back to their place of origin," the spokesman said.
Under the laws of Hong Kong, anyone who commits the offence of conspiracy is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty is imprisonment for 14 years.
It is also an offence to make a false representation to Immigration officers. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction to a maximum fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalty.
Ends/Friday, January 5, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:01
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