Sham marriage scam ringleaders who lured young Hongkongers into US$730,000 scheme with promise of big payday found guilty of fraud
Trio responsible for cross-border racket arranged 66 fake unions and convinced locals to marry mainland Chinese residents with offer of HK$100,000 payout
Three ringleaders of a syndicate that lured young Hongkongers into sham marriages were found guilty of fraud in District Court on Friday.
The trio, two men, Wong Cheung-yin and Luk Wing-kei, and a woman, Fong Wai-yan, were convicted of conspiracy to defraud and will be sentenced on September 7.
In total the group arranged 66 fake marriages, making five million yuan (US$730,000) in a scam where they targeted young people and offered them cash to marry mainland Chinese residents keen to live in the city.
Immigration Department officials ultimately arrested 86 people aged between 19 and 61 in connection with the cross-border racket, 51 of whom were from Hong Kong. Of that number, half were aged between 19 and 29.
According to the Immigration Department, the young Hongkongers were lured into marrying on the mainland via adverts in newspapers, on social media, and via messenger apps with promises of up to HK$100,000. But they only got HK$7,000 to HK$20,000 for taking part.
“The task was advertised as a job that offered a one-off high payment, but did not require any job experience,” said Au Yeung Chi-wai, an assistant principal immigration officer.