Mainland student jailed over fake diploma application
On.cc · 4 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
A 20-year-old mainland Chinese man has been sentenced to two months’ imprisonment at Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts after pleading guilty to obtaining services by deception. The case centred on a false academic certificate from an overseas college that he used to apply for a higher diploma programme at a local post-secondary institution. After he was admitted, the same qualification was also declared to the Immigration Department in his application for permission to come to Hong Kong for study. Investigators later found that the overseas college named in the documents did not in fact exist.
Key Points
- The defendant, described as a 20-year-old mainland man, earlier admitted one count of obtaining services by deception and was sentenced on 20 October at Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts.
- According to the case, he submitted a false academic certificate from an overseas college to a local post-secondary institution to secure admission to a higher diploma course.
- In the documents, he claimed he had completed a three-year diploma programme at the overseas college, a qualification used to meet admission requirements.
- After receiving an offer, he repeated the same qualification in his student entry permit application to the Immigration Department for study in Hong Kong.
- Under caution, he said an intermediary arranged a two-month remote course through the college’s mainland branch, but investigators found the overseas college did not exist.
Why It Matters
The case underlines the legal risks for applicants who use false qualifications in both school admissions and immigration procedures, because the same documents can trigger criminal liability on multiple fronts. It also points to the role of intermediaries in cross-border study applications and the need for institutions and authorities in Hong Kong to verify academic credentials carefully.