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Two Hong Kong residents were today (December 19) jailed by the District Court for conspiring to defraud the Immigration Department over the employment of foreign domestic helpers.
Cheung Mo-sun, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the breach of condition of stay, three counts of conspiracy to defraud and three counts of employing a person not lawfully employable. He was sentenced to an effective term of two years.
Ngai Kiu-kin, 46, was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud and was jailed for nine months.
Immigration investigators took over a case from Police who found six female foreign visitors and domestic helpers working in an unlicensed food processing factory at Lok Ma Chau.
Cheung, who was the owner of the unlicensed food processing factory, admitted that he employed the six women to work as packing workers in his factory. The six women - three Filipinas, two Indonesians and one Nepalese - were either overstayers or foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong.
Cheung admitted that he illegally deployed his Filipina maid to work in his factory. He conspired with an employment agent to obtain employment visas for two Indonesian domestic helpers using fake contracts. Ngai was the nominal contractual employer of one of the Indonesian maids. Cheung also admitted to have employed two overstayed Philippines visitors and a Nepalese maid in his factory.
Ngai admitted that he had agreed with an employment agent to act as an Indonesian domestic helper's nominal contractual employer. In return, the employment agent would refer foreign domestic helpers to buy air-tickets or apply for visas for the Mainland through a travel agency operated by Ngai.
The six overstayers and foreign domestic helpers were each charged and convicted and had served their jail sentences in Hong Kong.
Under the laws of Hong Kong, anyone convicted of the offence of conspiracy to defraud is liable to imprisonment for 14 years.
"The helper should only perform domestic duties for the employer specified in the contract approved by Director of Immigration. The employer should not require or allow the helper to carry out any non-domestic work, or to perform domestic work at any address other than that specified in the contract," an Immigration Department spokesman said. "Similarly, the employer should not require or allow the helper to carry out any work for any other person. Offenders will be liable to criminal prosecution and on conviction to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for two years. Any aider and abettor will have the same punishment."
It is also an offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years.
Ends/Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:30
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