A MAN who was part of a syndicate which supplied bogus employment contracts to more than 1,000 Filipino workers so they could apply for Hongkong visas, had his jail sentence reduced from 18 months to six months yesterday.
The Court of Appeal accepted Mak Chun-hin had withdrawn from the syndicate of his own volition and had sold his flat to repay about $240,000 to victims of the scheme.
Mak, 20, admitted a charge of conspiracy to defraud the Hongkong Government by preparing or obtaining forged employment contracts to support applications for visas.
He also pleaded guilty before District Court Judge Britton to going to the offices of the Immigration Department as a purported representative of employers seeking to engage overseas workers.
He claimed he was under the impression he was only assisting the domestic workers.
Other members of the syndicate, Magbitang Marilou, 38, Tagaca Editha, 45, Teresa Wong Mei-nei, 26, and Wong Chi-sang, 26, also pleaded guilty to the two charges and their sentences ranged from a six-month suspended sentence to two years' jail.