Chinese mainland pregnant woman jailed in HK for fraud

HONG KONG - A woman from the Chinese mainland has been sentenced for one-year imprisonment on Friday after pleading guilty to lying to an Hong Kong immigration officer and attempting to obtain services by deception.

Hong Kong's Immigration Department found the 28-year-old married a Hong Kong permanent resident last May and obtained the Confirmation Certificate on Delivery Booking from a private hospital for child birth.

She was intercepted at China Ferry Terminal on December 12, and showed the certificate to an immigration officer, saying she had come to visit her husband. She claimed the husband was the natural father of her expected baby.

The department doubted the woman's claim and refused her entry.

In a subsequent investigation she admitted the natural father of her baby was her mainland ex-husband, acknowledging she lied to immigration officers that her resident husband was the natural father to gain entry into Hong Kong.

She also admitted to telling the same lie to the private hospital when reserving the confinement services to facilitate her delivery in Hong Kong.