6 July 2021
A female from the Mainland was charged at the Sha Tin Magistrates' Courts with one count of making false representation to an Immigration Department (ImmD) staff member, and was sentenced to four months' imprisonment yesterday (July 5).
The 67-year-old defendant arrived in Hong Kong as a visitor. During her stay, the defendant submitted an application for an extension of stay to the ImmD, and claimed her reason for the extension was to take care of her mother in Hong Kong. However, when processing the application, the ImmD found that the defendant's mother was out of Hong Kong even prior to the defendant's arrival.
In the course of the investigation, the defendant admitted under caution that in order to have her extension application approved, she declared upon the extension application to Immigration staff that she needed to take care of her mother in Hong Kong, even though she clearly knew that her mother was not in Hong Kong. The defendant was subsequently charged with the offence of making false representation to Immigration staff for the reason of extension. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to four months' imprisonment by the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court yesterday.
"Under the laws of Hong Kong, any person who makes false representation to an Immigration officer commits an offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, subject to the maximum penalty of a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years," an ImmD spokesman said.