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The mastermind of a marriage of convenience syndicate and two other Hong Kong residents were jailed on conspiracy charges, an Immigration Department spokesman said today (October 8).
Female resident Chan Chi-king, 52, the architect of a local fake marriage syndicate, was jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty in Sha Tin Magistrates' Court to one charge of conspiracy to defraud by arranging a false marriage between local female resident Tam Mei-yee and a Mainland man.
Tam, 26, and syndicate member Wong Wing-pun, 31, had previously pleaded guilty to a joint conspiracy charge. The court was told that Wong had died, and Tam’s sentencing was adjourned to October 22.
Tam was intercepted in January by Immigration investigators and when questioned about her matrimonial relationship with her mainland husband, she admitted that the marriage was false and was arranged by Chan and Wong so the mainlander could apply for "90-day visit" endorsement to enter Hong Kong and eventually for settlement. Wong had earlier admitted to having recruited TAM for Chan for money.
At the end of January, Chan and another local female resident approached Tam and asked her to reverse the statement she had previously given to the Immigration Department. Through Immigration investigators, the incident was reported to the police for further investigation.
In February, 2007, Immigration officers conducted a house raid at Chan's Mong Kok residence and seized copies of marriage documents, travel documents and mainland exit-entry permits, notebooks and telephone books relating to false marriages.
In June, Chan and the local female resident were convicted of "doing an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice", and were sentenced to seven and six months' imprisonment.
As a result of the material seized from Chan's home, ten more people were apprehended in connection with Hong Kong/mainland false marriages. Four of them were convicted on conspiracy charges and jailed for 12–16 months.
Tam's bogus husband pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy and was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment.
The investigation is still on-going.
"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/Monday, October 8, 2007
Issued at HKT 20:01
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