Four women, two Canadian couriers and two Mainlanders, involved in the transfer of fake travel documents and boarding passes have been sentenced to six to 18 months' jail.

They are 21-year-old Mainlanders Gao Xiuyue and Weng Yanzhen, and Canadians Au An-dao, 42, and Duong Huong-ngoc, 51.

Gao and Au were each charged with possession of a false travel document and conspiracy to obtain services by deception.

Weng was charged with possession of a false travel document and Duong conspiracy to obtain services by deception. They all pleaded guilty at the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court today.

Gao and Au were sentenced to six months' and 18 months' jail on each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently. Weng and Duong were sentenced to six months' and 18 months' imprisonment.

Immigration investigators found on Au a fake Canadian passport bearing Duong's name but with someone else's photo at the airport. Duong was seen in a toilet passing a Canadian passport, a sticker for a Japanese airline and a boarding pass to Gao who was in the adjacent cubicle.

Immigration investigators stopped the two when they left their cubicles. Gao was found in possession of a false Canadian passport, which bore her own photo but was in Au's name and two boarding passes, which also belonged to Au.

Middleman offered false document

Gao admitted a middleman offered her a false document to enter the United States to look for a job. Au said Duong asked her to check in for the flight at the Japanese airline counter and to give the boarding pass to Duong for a third person to use, with a free trip and Canadian $2,000 as a reward. Au then gave the boarding pass to Duong and received a Canadian passport in Duong's name from her.

Immigration investigators also stopped Weng at a boarding gate, with a forged Canadian passport bearing her photo but with another person's identity.