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A Hong Kong resident who transferred his Hong Kong Identity Card (HKIC) to another person, has been jailed for six months.
A spokesman for the Immigration Department said today (July 9) that Mehboob Hussain, 30, appeared Sha Tin Magistratesˇ¦ Court on Monday (July 7) and pleaded guilty to a charge of transferring his identity card to another person without reasonable excuse.
The court was told that a Southeast Asian overstaying illegal worker had been arrested at a container pier on January 2 by Immigration investigators. The illegal worker admitted that he had rented the identity card from the defendant for the past year at a cost of $2,000 per month for securing his job in the container pier. The illegal worker was convicted on January 7 of offences of overstaying, taking up unapproved employment and using someone elseˇ¦s identity card, and was given an effective sentence of 18 months imprisonment.
The day after the illegal worker was apprehended, Immigration investigators went to Mr Hussainˇ¦s home and arrested him for the offence of transferring his identity card to anther person. Investigators also found another two Southeast Asian illegal immigrants at Mr Hussainˇ¦s home.
The Immigration Department spokesman warned that under the laws of Hong Kong, it was an offence to transfer an identity card to another person without reasonable excuse. Offenders were liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty was a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for 10 years.
Ends/Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:56
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