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A Hong Kong resident was jailed for the illegal transfer of a passport after appearing at the Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts today (April 20).
The defendant, Chan Siu-bun, 29, was charged with a count of transfer to another without reasonable excuse of a travel document. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was jailed for 12 months.
A Chinese male intending to board a flight to London was not allowed to board by airline staff after he was found holding a suspected forged Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport. Forensic examination confirmed that the passport's bio-data was forged. Further investigation revealed that Chan was the rightful holder of the HKSAR passport.
Chan admitted that he learnt from an advertisement that he could earn money by selling his HKSAR passport. He later met a middleman to sell his HKSAR passport and received $1,000 in payment.
"Under the laws of Hong Kong, it is an offence to transfer any travel document to another person without reasonable excuse. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty will be a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years, " an Immigration Department spokesman warned.
Ends/Monday, April 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:56
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