Hong Kong resident jailed for making false representation
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The 50-year-old defendant submitted an application to the ImmD for a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode for her Mainland-born son in 2017, and claimed that her Hong Kong resident ex-husband was her son's natural father. As the defendant failed to arrange her ex-husband to undergo the specified genetic test with the applicant as requested by the ImmD, the application was not proceeded further. Subsequently in 2020, the defendant submitted another application for a Certificate of Entitlement for her son, but claimed another Hong Kong male resident as her son's natural father. In view of the doubtful father-and-son relationship, investigators thus began an investigation against the defendant. Accordingly, the application was not proceeded further.
In the course of the investigation, the defendant admitted that when submitting the application for a Certificate of Entitlement for her son in 2017, she could not provide relevant documents of her son's natural father. She thus deliberately made false representations to ImmD staff about the parental relationship between her son and her ex-husband even though she clearly knew that her ex-husband was not the natural father so as to facilitate the approval of her son's application. The defendant was subsequently charged with the offence of making false representation to ImmD staff upon the application for a Certificate of Entitlement for her son. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to six months' imprisonment by the Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts yesterday.
"Under the laws of Hong Kong, any person who makes false representation to an Immigration officer commits an offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, subject to the maximum penalty of a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years," an ImmD spokesman said.
Ends/Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Issued at HKT 18:52
Issued at HKT 18:52
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