A Hong Kong-born man has appeared in a Sydney court charged with running an immigration scam to Australia in the 1990s.
George Ling Kai-hung, 53, is accused of accepting bribes in return for issuing passports to 110 people from Hong Kong and the mainland between September 1995 and March 2000.
In Sydney's Central Local Court yesterday, Ling was refused bail on 17 charges, including conspiracy to defraud the Australian government, conspiracy to corrupt and bribe a government official and 14 counts of making a false statement in a passport application.
Ling, who holds an Australian passport, worked as an immigration consultant but fled Australia six years ago after his partner in the alleged scheme, former Australian immigration officer David Moon, 57, was questioned over the false passports.
Ling fled to the US, but was arrested last March in Seattle.
Refusing him bail, the magistrate said there was a risk that Ling, who has two sisters in Hong Kong, would try to flee Australia again. 'He has shown that his ties to this country are somewhat tenuous.'
