Ringleader, core member of Hong Kong-mainland China fake marriage syndicate each jailed for 33 months
- Cross-border syndicate made more than HK$10 million by arranging at least 150 bogus marriages between Hongkongers and mainland Chinese
- Man, 45, and woman, 52, convicted of five counts of conspiracy to defraud at the District Court
The ringleader and a core member of a cross-border syndicate that made more than HK$10 million by arranging at least 150 bogus marriages between Hongkongers and mainland Chinese have each been jailed for 33 months.
The pair were sentenced on Wednesday after the 45-year-old male ringleader and the core member – a 52-year-old woman – were convicted of five counts of conspiracy to defraud at the District Court last month. The man was also convicted of one count of conspiracy to obtain services by deception.
They were among 164 people, aged 20 to 65, rounded up since 2017 in connection with fake marriages arranged by the syndicate, according to Yung Ka-wai, assistant principal immigration officer.
He said it was the biggest syndicate the Immigration Department had broken up in terms of the number of fake marriages involved.
Of the 85 men and 79 women caught, 126 were Hong Kong residents and 38 from the mainland.
Yung said 60 per cent of the local residents involved were aged between 19 and 35 and included university students and professionals such as a nurse.
He said the syndicate began operating as early as 2014 by placing advertisements in newspapers with terms such as “quick cash” and “easy job” to draw in people looking for work.
