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The Immigration Department said today (August 7) that a Hong Kong resident, who had stolen his mother's passport and sold it, together with his own, to an unknown agent, had been sentenced to jail.
The 23-year-old male defendant, Alan Chin Wai-lun, earlier pleaded guilty at the District Court to one count of theft and two counts of transferring Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passports to another person without reasonable excuse.
He was jailed for eight months for the first charge and 20 months each for the second and third charges. The eight-month sentence will run concurrently with the second charge, as will 19 months of the third charge, bringing a total of 21 months imprisonment.
Immigration investigators started investigating Chin in connection with the deportation from Turkey in April 2006 of a Mainlander, who was posing as the defendant's mother and was in possession of her passport.
Under caution, Chin admitted that he had sold his mother's passport and his own to an agent who had advertised in a Chinese newspaper. He received $800 for each.
"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," the Immigration Department warned.
Ends/Monday, August 7, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:01
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