A fake business degree helped land an unemployed man a management job but may ultimately send him to jail. Tam Po-kon, 48, yesterday admitted using the false Chinese University Bachelor of Business Administration degree to apply for a sales management position with Hung Fook Tong (China) Development Ltd. After an interview on July 11 last year with the company's deputy managing director, Kwan Way-yung, Tam was given the job. He received an extra $5,000 on top of a $25,000 monthly salary because of the 'degree', prosecutor Laura Ng told the District Court. Two months after Tam started work, he told his secretary, Chan Hau-wa, his father had left him $15 million in a will. He said he had invested the money in the company and could in future write out his own company cheques to clients. Over the following two months Tam signed six company cheques totalling $1.84 million for advertising work but all the cheques bounced. Tam was fired after Mr Kwan found out. He told police after his arrest on December 22 last year that the degree was actually a friend's. He told police the six cheques were signed because he believed his boss was not always happy to make immediate payment for work. Tam pleaded guilty to obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception and five counts of possession of a false instrument. He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced by Judge Brian De Souza on November 12.
