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Two Singaporeans involved in an immigration scam have been jailed by the District Court for four years. The Singaporeans, Teo Zi Yang, 22, and Koh Bang Long, 24, along with two Mainland women, Jiang Tingting, 22, and Ye Qiuyan, 19, appeared in court last Friday (January 29).
The two Mainland women, who pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to obtain services by deception and conspiracy to defraud, were jailed for 20 months. The Singaporeans, Teo and Koh, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to obtain services by deception.
Immigration investigators at Hong Kong International Airport intercepted the defendants as they were about to board a flight to Newark, USA, in July 2009. They all produced Singaporean passports for inspection and the passports of Jiang and Ye were suspected to be forgeries.
They later admitted that two middlemen had arranged for Teo and Koh to act as couriers for Jiang and Ye, disguising themselves as boyfriends of the women. Jiang and Yeh also admitted that they claimed Xiamen as their destination upon departure clearance, but then lined up for the flight to the USA.
Under the Crimes Ordinance, a person convicted of the common law offence of conspiracy to defraud is liable to imprisonment for 14 years.
Under the Theft Ordinance, people who dishonestly obtained services are liable to up to 10 years' jail.
Ends/Monday, February 1, 2010
Issued at HKT 19:37
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