Korean male jailed for conspiracy to act as check-in facilitator and making false representation

     A 50-year-old Korean male who acted as a check-in facilitator for another person and made false representation to Immigration Officer was jailed after appearing in the District Court today (September 3). Each charge was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. All charges are to run concurrently, making a total of 24 months' imprisonment.
 
     The court heard that, in December 2011, a Mainlander who used a forged Korean passport and a boarding pass bearing the name of the defendant was arrested by Immigration Officers at Hong Kong International Airport (Airport). After investigation, the Mainlander was charged with one count of making false representation to an Immigration Officer and one count of possession of a forged travel document and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment in January 2012. The defendant was identified as being involved after detailed analysis by investigators and he was arrested upon his arrival at the Airport on November 14, 2017.
 
     Under caution, the defendant, after listening to the instruction of a intermediary in December 2011, admitted that he received remuneration for procuring the boarding pass to Sydney, Australia and purported to depart for Sydney, Australia to an immigration officer upon departure clearance before leaving the boarding pass inside a washroom in the Airport's restricted area with a view to transferring it to another person for smuggling to Australia. The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain services by deception and one count of making false representation to an Immigration Officer on July 24 this year.
 
     The spokesman warned that under the Theft Ordinance, people who, by any deception, dishonestly obtain services from another shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, upon conviction, to imprisonment for 10 years. In addition, any person who makes false representation to Immigration Officers commits an offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty will be a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years.