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Two Mainland men, involved in false marriage cases, were jailed after appearing in Sha Tin Magistrates' Court today (May 23).
Gao Deming, 31, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud and one count of making false representation to an Immigration Officer and was given an effective sentence of 18 months.
Gao was intercepted at Lo Wu control point on January 3. He admitted that he had agreed with a middleman to enter into a false marriage with a Hong Kong resident at a cost of 38,000 renminbi. He intended to make use of the false marriage to acquire a "90-day visit" endorsement to enter Hong Kong but in fact was going to use it for job hunting and eventually for settlement.
He married his bogus wife in November last year and then made visit to Hong Kong, falsely declaring to an Immigration control officer that he came to visit his resident wife.
In the second case, Xu Ruichang, 41, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud and two counts of making false representation to an Immigration Officers. He was given an effective sentence of 15 months.
Xu admitted that he had entered into a false marriage with a Hong Kong resident at a cost of 25,000 renminbi. As he had several times previously been refused permission to enter Hong Kong, he intended to use the false marriage to acquire a "90-day visit" endorsement to enter Hong Kong and eventually for settlement. He married his bogus wife in July, 2006, and then made visits to Hong Kong after the "marriage", falsely declaring to the Immigration control officers that he came to visit his resident wife.
"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.
It is also an offence to make a false representation to Immigration officers. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction to a maximum fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalty.
Ends/Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:03
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