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A Hong Kong resident was today (June 20) jailed for possessing false instruments - a People's Republic of China (PRC) marriage certificate and two PRC birth certificates - and making false statement when applying for a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) re-entry permit for his two sons.
Wu Kwei-leung, 57, pleaded guilty at the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court to three counts of possessing a false instrument and two counts of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a HKSAR re-entry permit. He was jailed for 10 months on each charge, sentences to run concurrently.
In July, 2005, Wu applied for replacement of his two sons' HKSAR re-entry permits. He furnished a PRC marriage certificate to substantiate his marriage with a Mainlander Lok Siu Lin, two PRC birth certificates of his sons showing their mother to be Lok and a deed poll for change of name of his sons from Wu Man-fung and Wu Man-kit to Wu Pak-on and Wu Pak-miu respectively. A records check revealed that the defendant had submitted another set of PRC birth certificates in 2001 with the mother's name listed as Lee Lai Wan.
Wu admitted that Lee was his sons' natural mother. In 2001, his marriage with Lee was dissolved and he lived with Lok. According to the Court Order, he was granted custodial right over his sons and Lee was granted limited access. To avoid his ex-wife having further contact with his sons, he procured the false documents through a middleman on the Mainland despite never solemnising marriage to Lok. He also changed his sons' names to circumvent the Court Order which restricted his sons' departure from Hong Kong.
Under the laws of Hong Kong, anyone who has in his custody a false instrument commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for 14 years.
It is also an offence to make false statement for the purpose of obtaining a HKSAR re-entry permit. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction to a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years.
Ends/Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:58
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