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Record high penalty for forger of travel documents
The mastermind of a forged travel document syndicate, which smuggled mainlander to overseas with fake travel documents, was today (Tuesday) jailed for five years, a record high penalty for offence in relation to possession of forged travel documents.
Commenting on the sentencing, an Immigration Department spokesman said: "It is an offence in law to have in possession of forged, false or unalwfully altered travel documents. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction, the maximum penalty will be a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years."
The man was charged with three counts of offences in relation to conspiracy to possess, possession of forged, false, unlawfully obtained or unlawfully altered passports and equipment for making a false instrument.
At the Wan Chai District Court today, the defendant pleaded guilty to one court of possessing 16 pieces of unlawfully altered travel documents, namely 19 copies of British National (Overseas) (BNO) passports, one British Dependent Territories Citizens (BDTC) passport and two Singaporean passports, and one count of conspiracy to possess 11 pieces of forged or unlawfully altered travel documents, namely six People's Republic of China (PRC) passports, three BNO passports and two BDTC passports.
The Court heard that Immigration investigators, acting on information, arrested the defendant on April 20, 1996 at the Hong Kong International Airport when he attempted to leave Hong Kong for Guangzhou.
He was then taken to his residence at Sha Tin in which a total of 16 forged, false, unlawfully obtained or unlawfully altered travel documents were found. Also in the haul, immigration investigators found 470 blank Brazilian visas and 960 Brazilian stamp duties.
The arrest was prompted by an earlier operation in which Immigration investigators found a postal parcel, mailed from Brazil and addressed to the defendant, containing six forged PRC passports and five forged BNO and BDTC passports.
Enquiries revealed that the defendant got those travel documents from a friend in Brazil. The friend told defendant that these travel documents would be brought to Thailand for re-photosubstitution.
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