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Immigration investigators are on the trail of 50 suspected bogus marriages involving individuals in the mainland and Hong Kong.
The cases were revealed by the authorities Thursday after a mainland man and his Hong Kong "wife" were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the Immigration Department in a bogus marriage dating back to August 2004.
Zhao Wei, a 23-year-old Fujian native, was sentenced by Sha Tin Deputy Magistrate Raymond Wong Kwok-fai to four months in jail. His "wife" Tsui Wing-shan, 25, who became a prosecution witness, was remanded in custody pending a background report before sentencing on October 19.
This is the second conviction involving cross-border bogus marriage that principal immigration officer Yip Kim-kwan hopes will be enough to deter people from committing the offense.
In April, a Hong Kong man, 57, and a 42-year-old mainland woman were sentenced to nine months' imprisonment.
Yip disclosed the department was closing in on a third case and prosecution could be imminent. In the case, he said, intelligence exchanges had led to their mainland counterparts acting in time to prevent a man from getting the necessary travel documents to join his "wife" in Hong Kong.
Yip said since the start of the year, the number of suspected bogus marriages on their list had increased to 50.
"A thorough investigation will be mounted once evidence has surfaced that any of them are not genuine marriages," he said.
There is no definition of a bogus marriage in Hong Kong law books. But it is an offense if a person fails to declare the truth to immigration officers that, according to Yip, carries a penalty of up to 14 years in jail.
Yip did not say whether or not the sentences of four to nine months were too light, but said the fact people were convicted and sentenced showed nobody could gain from a fake relationship. Residence status obtained as a result of such a marriage would also be canceled, he said.
The case in Sha Tin court Thursday surfaced in June when immigration officers arrested Zhao during a crackdown on illegal workers.
The department quickly focused on Zhao's marriage when its records showed he had married Tsui in Hong Kong back in August 2004.
It was found that Zhao had paid an agent in Hong Kong a sum of HK$30,000 to arrange a marriage with Tsui so he could apply for the necessary travel documents to stay for three months every time he visited Hong Kong and, eventually, gain permanent residence in the SAR.
Yip said the middleman promised to pay Tsui HK$10,000 and they would divorce after Zhao was given permanent residence. "But she hasn't got a cent so far," Yip said.
A middleman would charge a mainlander between HK$20,000 and HK$50,000 to arrange a bogus cross- border marriage.
Yip said that though classified ads for such a service in newspapers did not breach the law, it nevertheless provided the authorities clues with which to track down the culprits.
The authorities, however, have so far not prosecuted any of the agents.
The principal immigration officer admitted it is difficult to unearth evidence relating to personal relationships.
Official figures show that 2,292 mainland men and 11,989 women were married to Hong Kong spouses from January to August, accounting for 52.25 percent of the 27,332 marriages registered in the SAR.
Though he said he had no figures to support his claim, Yip believed more mainland men were marrying Hong Kong women because more male illegal workers were being arrested here.
Between January and August, the department arrested 5,739 illegal workers, most of whom were men, compared with 6,497 illegal workers arrested last year and 7,659 in 2004.
Yip also said it was possible that a number of mainland women involved in bogus marriages could be engaged in vice activities, citing a case in February when the arrest of a woman, 42, in a vice operation led to the exposure of a fake marriage she had with a 57-year-old Hong Kong man.
That marriage was fixed through agents in Hong Kong and the mainland.
In the third case the Immigration Department is still investigating, the mainland man was apprehended after he allegedly paid his middleman HK$23,000 for a Hong Kong wife.
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong legislator Choy So-yuk said: "It's a cause for concern. As far as I understand, it's rather common. I hope the court cases can be taken as a deterrent."
Choy said she had heard of a case in the mainland in which a couple got divorced and then each rearranged marriages with Hong Kong people.
"Yet, they continued to live together as before," she said.
She cited another case in which a Hong Kong man desperately sought to divorce his mainland "wife" after he got into a genuine relationship with a Hong Kong woman.
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