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A Hong Kong resident was today (June 21) sentenced to four months' jail by the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court for using false Certificates of Absence of Marriage Record (CAMR) and making a false statement on oath.
Wong Shiu Kei, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of using false instruments and one count of making false statement on oath and was jailed for four months on each charge. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The court was told that the defendant intended to use a false CAMR to solemnise his marriage on the Mainland. He was intercepted at the Macau Ferry Terminal on his return from Macau on April 7.
Records show that the defendant solemnised a marriage in Hong Kong in 1997. The marriage was dissolved in 2000. He had never applied for a CAMR. On September 9, 2003, he approached a Hong Kong firm of solicitors with a false CAMR to make a statutory declaration in the presence of a solicitor that he had never married.
Armed with the written declaration and the false CAMR, he went to the China Legal Service (HK) Ltd for certification. The Immigration Department took over the case after China Legal Service (HK) staff had doubts about the authenticity of the CAMR. Forensic examination confirmed that the CAMR in question was a forgery.
"Under the laws of Hong Kong, anyone who uses a false instrument commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for 14 years," an Immigration Department spokesman warned.
Under the laws of Hong Kong, any person making false statement on oath shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for 7 years and to a fine.
Ends/Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:06
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