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The Immigration Department said today (April 19) that a Hong Kong resident, who illegally transferred his passport and made a false statement in his application to replace his passport, was sentenced to jail.
The 21-year-old male defendant, Chan Kwok-loi, pleaded guilty at the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court today to one count of transferring his Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport to another person without reasonable excuse and one count of making a false representation for the purpose of obtaining a travel document. He was jailed for six months on the first charge and four months for the second charge. However, two months of the second charge will run concurrently with the first, bringing the time he will serve in jail to eight months.
Immigration investigators started investigating Chan in connection with a Mainlander's deportation from France in April 2004 for possessing Chan's HKSAR passport.
Under caution, Chan admitted that his friend had asked to borrow his HKSAR passport. Despite knowing his friend was a middleman, who arranged passports for illegal users, Chan still applied for an HKSAR passport in March 2004 and transferred it to his friend.
In order to conceal his illegal act, Chan falsely stated in his application for a replacement passport in October 2005 that he had lost his passport.
"Under the laws of Hong Kong, it is an offence to transfer any travel document to another person without reasonable excuse. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty will be a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years," the Immigration Department warned.
Also, anyone one who furnishes false particulars to obtain a travel document commits an offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty will be a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years.
Ends/Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:10
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