Woman jailed for 17 weeks for using fake papers to get Hong Kong student visa

A mainland Chinese student has been sentenced to 17 weeks in prison for using a fake certificate from a US Ivy League university and making false representations to immigration officers to get into a top Hong Kong business school.

Wu Linhui, 24, was among about 30 students embroiled in the fake qualifications scandal, which was revealed in May by the University of Hong Kong’s business school.

Wu’s counsel, Simon So, told Eastern Court on Thursday that the defendant’s mother hoped her daughter would have a bright future and, therefore, hired an agency to handle the postgraduate application.

“The defendant’s parents felt very guilty that they found that agency for their child,” So said in mitigation.

Wu claimed she was a mathematics graduate of Cornell University while applying to a one-year HKU postgraduate programme in finance in September 2022.

She received a conditional offer from HKU and subsequently submitted an application to the Immigration Department for a permit to enter the city to study.

But in May, the business school reported to police suspicious cases of students faking their academic credentials in submissions after conducting an internal investigation.