Hong Kong court jails 3 over scheme to fly mainlander to Australia with fake travel document

Three men have been jailed over their involvement in a scheme orchestrated by an illegal immigration syndicate to fly a mainland Chinese man from Hong Kong to Melbourne using a boarding pass exchanged in an airport toilet cubicle and a forged travel document.

The trio pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain services by deception at Hong Kong’s District Court and were sentenced on Wednesday to prison sentences ranging from 22 to 34 months.

Li Kwing-chiu, chief immigration officer at the Immigration Department’s anti-illegal migration agency, said the three men – a 35-year-old mainlander, a 48-year-old Taiwanese and a 60-year-old Canadian – were arrested in November last year in Hong Kong.

The mainlander was accused of attempting to enter a foreign country with a forged travel document and a boarding pass he bought from the Taiwanese man for the Melbourne-bound flight. The Canadian national, who was escorting the mainlander, was believed to be a core member of an illegal immigration syndicate.

Li said the syndicate had been operating for half a year.

“We found the syndicate has been offering a one-stop service. They would first lure Taiwan residents on mobile messaging apps to sell their personal information to make counterfeit documents and help clients obtain visas and boarding passes for their destinations,” Li said.