A 20-year-old male Mainland student was charged at the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts with one count of obtaining services by deception and was sentenced to two months' imprisonment today (October 20).
In November 2024, the Immigration Department (ImmD) and the Hong Kong Police Force conducted a joint investigation into a case involving a false academic qualification. The investigation revealed that the defendant was suspected of submitting a false academic certificate of an overseas educational institution to a local post-secondary institution for admission to a higher diploma programme. After obtaining an offer from the local post-secondary institution, the defendant reported the same false academic qualification to the ImmD upon his application for an entry permit to study in Hong Kong, and declared that he had completed a three-year diploma programme in the overseas educational institution.
The defendant exculpated under caution that through the arrangement of an intermediary, he obtained the false academic qualification upon completion of a two-month distance learning programme in the Mainland branch of the said overseas educational institution and he later used the said qualification to enrol in a local higher diploma programme. However, the follow-up investigation revealed that the said overseas educational institution actually did not exist.
The defendant was subsequently charged with one count of obtaining services by deception. He previously pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to two months' imprisonment by the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts today.
"Under the laws of Hong Kong, any person who makes or causes to be made a false statement 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. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties. Under the Theft Ordinance, a person who by any deception dishonestly obtains services from another shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, upon conviction, to the maximum penalty of imprisonment for 10 years," an ImmD spokesman said.
The ImmD urges applicants not to defy the law or be misled into believing that study or residence can be obtained by fraudulent means or false information. The ImmD reiterates that if any person is found to have obtained their student visa/permit or residence status in Hong Kong by fraudulent means, such visa or residence status will be declared invalid according to the laws of Hong Kong, and they will be subject to criminal liability. They will also be subject to removal back to their place of origin.