*****************************************
Four Hong Kong residents involved in marriages of convenience have been jailed after appearing in Sha Tin Magistrates' Court.
Chan Shu Hing, 55, Wong Kam San, 43 and Lui King Yiu, 63, each pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud. They were each given an effective sentence of 18 months. Chan Shat Cheong, 58, was tried and convicted of two counts of conspiracy and was today (October 3) given an effective sentence of 27 months.
Chan Shu Hing and Wong Kam San admitted being husband and wife who had married on the Mainland in 1984. They migrated to Hong Kong and eventually acquired permanent residency. Chan Shu Hing's younger brother married a Mainland resident on the Mainland.
In 1998, Chan Shu Hing and Wong Kam San divorced, while Chan Shu Hing's younger brother also divorced his Mainland wife. They then changed partners. Chan Shu Hing married his sister-in-law, and Wong Kam San married Chan Shu Hing's brother, with the intention of applying for One-way Permits for the younger brother and his wife.
Chan Shu Hing and Wong Kam San claimed that they gained no reward for the arrangement. In 2002, through the arrangement of a middleman, Wong Kam San also arranged a false marriage for her mother with a Hong Kong resident, Lui King Yiu, for the purpose of family reunion by paying $6,000.
In 2003, Chan Shu Hing's sister-in-law successfully gained entry into Hong Kong, while Wong Kam San's mother and Chan Shu Hing's brother's One-way Permit applications had not yet been approved.
Lui King Yiu admitted that under the arrangement of Chan Shat Cheong, he contracted into bogus marriages with Wong Kam San's mother and another Mainland female. Chan Shat Cheong told him that the bogus marriages with the Mainland females would facilitate them to apply for "90-day visit" endorsements to enter Hong Kong; and eventually for illegal employment or settlement.
In 2002, he married Wong Kam San's mother on the Mainland for $6,000. In 2003, he married another Mainland female in Hong Kong for $1,000. He knew that the Mainlanders would obtain "90-day visit" endorsements and One-way permits for job seeking or settlement in Hong Kong. He had posed as the husband of the two bogus wives whenever he was asked about their relationships by the Hong Kong Immigration Department.
"The Immigration Department has been very concerned with non-Hong Kong residents obtaining stay in Hong Kong by means of marriage of convenience," a department spokesman said.
"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 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.
Ends/Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Issued at HKT 20:13
NNNN
