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A Hong Kong resident has been jailed for possessing forged identity cards and false instruments.
Gary Tang Tak-cheong, 46, pleaded guilty at the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court on February 20 to one count of in possession of forged identity card and one count of possessing a false instrument. He was jailed for 20 months on each charge, the sentences to run concurrently.
The court heard that Immigration investigators raided premises in Kowloon Tong in January 2008. Two Mainlanders were found to be performing renovation work there and Tang was the contractor of the renovation work. Entry records of the building revealed that Tang had taken the two Mainlanders to the building four times and each time the two men had registered as Hong Kong identity card holders.
Two days after the raid, Immigration officers raided Tang's residential address where they found five forged Hong Kong identity cards and six copies of forged Hong Kong identity cards inside a cabinet. One of the seized Hong Kong identity cards had the photo of one of the Mainlanders at the premises in Kowloon Tong and it tallied with the entry records at the building.
Forensic examination revealed that all Hong Kong identity cards seized were forgeries.
"Under the laws of Hong Kong, anyone who has in his custody a false instrument commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for 14 years," an Immigration spokesman said.
The spokesman warned that it was an offence in law to use or possess a forged identity card or transfer an identity card to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and imprisonment for 10 years.
Ends/Monday, February 23, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:46
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