2 Hong Kong women jailed for ‘abominable’ forgery of Covid-19 jab certificates and exemption documents
- Nguyen Thi Duyen and Wong Man-ki admit a total of five charges, sentenced to up to three years behind bars
- Judge brands conduct ‘extremely selfish’ and detracted from government’s efforts to contain the pandemic
Janitor Nguyen Thi Duyen, 50, and photo printing manager Wong Man-ki, 44, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a total of five charges.
“The present case is abominable, and the defendants’ conduct was extremely selfish,” deputy judge Cheang Kei-hong said.
Three of the charges were in connection with a plot to falsify Covid-19 inoculation records, medical exemption certificates and negative test results between March and August 2021.
Cheang said the health regulations imposed by the government were designed to cut the risk of infection and protect people from harm.
But he added the defendants’ acts had detracted from the effort to contain the pandemic and risked undermining residents’ confidence in the city’s healthcare system.
The mother-of-two approached Wong, who operated a photo printing service in Kowloon Bay.
Wong accepted the offer and charged HK$150 for each bogus letter, with her total profit from the offence amounting to a four-figure sum, the court was told.
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Police arrested the pair on August 13 that year and uncovered 215 fake medical certificates in print or digital form.
Some of the seized documents claimed “serious allergy to dairy products” as the reason for someone to be exempted from the jab.
But two medical workers who helped the prosecution confirmed that coronavirus vaccines were safe for people who could not eat milk or cheese.
Another forged document found was a certificate that said a polymerase chain reaction test was carried out on February 29, 2021 – a date that does not exist.
Further inquiries revealed Nguyen, a permanent resident, also had a fake Hong Kong identity card and another person’s lost ID card at her home.
The pair admitted a joint charge of conspiracy to make a false instrument.
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Nguyen also admitted possession of a fake identity card and having a genuine ID card that had been lost.
Wong in addition admitted a forgery charge and one of possession of a false instrument.
Defence lawyers told the court the pair committed the offences because of financial difficulties.
Wong said her business had gone downhill fast as the pandemic arrived on the heels of the 2019 protests.
Cheang jailed Nguyen for between 12 and 18 months on each charge before he imposed a total term of three years, as the identity card offences were of a different nature to what she was arrested for in the first place.
Wong was given 18 to 28 months in jail for the three offences she committed, but Cheang ordered they should run concurrently.
