The Hong Kong Immigration Department has arrested 18 individuals suspected of running a syndicate that provided forged employment documents to overseas workers in order to obtain foreign domestic helper visas and work illegally in Hong Kong.
The alleged ringleader of the operation is a 63-year-old woman who has been sentenced to 14 months in prison. Among the other arrests were 14 illegal foreign workers, including 5 men and 9 women aged 33 to 51. Six of these workers have already been convicted and imprisoned.
Two employers and a 59-year-old Hong Kong man were also arrested. The local man received a 15-month prison sentence for assisting the syndicate in obtaining personal information and false documents.
According to the Immigration Department's Foreign Domestic Helpers Special Investigation unit, the syndicate had been operating for 4 years and earned over HK$1 million. They posed as a foreign domestic helper agency and submitted visa applications using forged supporting documents such as utility bills and bank statements with identical information across multiple employers.
The department identified around 40 related cases involving 26 overseas workers. Over 100 pieces of evidence were seized, including mobile phones, computers, and a large number of false documents and contracts. The illegal workers paid the syndicate HK$40,000 per person to apply for the visas using the forged documents.
"The mastermind would then obtain personal information, including ID copies and fake documents, to submit the fraudulent applications," said Chief Immigration Officer Chan Chi-wai. When immigration officers suspected the authenticity of the documents, the applications would be withdrawn.
18人涉嫌偽造外傭僱傭文件被捕
2024年7月4日
香港入境事務處拘捕了18名涉嫌經營一個集團,為海外工人提供偽造僱傭文件以取得外傭簽證,並在香港非法工作。
被指為該集團主腦的是一名63歲女子,她已被判入獄14個月。其他被捕者包括14名非法外籍工人,包括5男9女,年齡介乎33至51歲。其中6名工人已被定罪入獄。
two間僱主及一名59歲香港男子亦被捕。這名港男子被判入獄15個月,罪名是協助該集團取得個人資料和假文件。
據入境處外籍家庭傭工特別調查組組長陳志偉稱,該集團運作了4年,賺取超過100萬港元。他們冒充外傭中介公司,使用偽造的證明文件如電費單、水費單和銀行結單(內容在不同僱主之間雷同)提交簽證申請。
部門約追查到40宗相關個案,涉及26名海外工人。警方檢獲逾100件證物,包括手機、電腦和大量假文件及合約。這些非法工人每人支付4萬港元給該集團,以申請簽證使用這些偽造文件。
陳志偉表示:「主腦會取得包括身份證副本和假文件在內的個人資料,以提交詐騙性的申請。」當入境處懷疑文件的真實性時,有關申請隨即被撤回。
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