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A second Mainlander who tried to enter Hong Kong by using a forged identity card through an e-channel had been successfully charged and jailed, a department spokesman said today (February 22).
The 24-year-old defendant Shen Wenyuan, pleaded guilty at the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court today to a charge of using forged identity card and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
The defendant admitted that he had paid RMB100 for a forged Hong Kong smart identity card bearing his own personal particulars through a middle-man in Shenzhen for job seeking in Hong Kong.
On February 20, he tried to use the forged identity card to enter Hong Kong through e-channel at Lo Wu control point. As he could not pass the e-channel, Immigration control officers approached him and discovered he was using a forged identity card. He was then arrested.
In a similar case yesterday (February 21) a Mainlander was jailed for attempting to use a forged identity card through e-channel. It was the first case of its kind in Hong Kong. The successful apprehensions confirmed that the security systems of the smart identity card and e-channel were reliable. "Any forged document will be detected," the spokesman stressed.
Under the laws of Hong Kong, anyone who, without lawful authority of reasonable excuse, uses a forged identity card are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty will be a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for 10 years.
Ends/Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:14
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