The Immigration Department and the Guangdong Public Security Bureau have jointly shut down four forgery workshops and three forgery syndicates, arresting 91 people and seizing 1,000 forged documents and instruments.

Acting Assistant Director of Immigration Yip Kim-kwan today said the operations resulted in the arrest of a number of principal syndicate members and the seizure of large quantities of forged documents and instruments.

During August 2006, law-enforcement authorities in both places found that forgery syndicates provided forged Hong Kong identity cards to Mainland residents to help them hide their identities when taking up illegal employment during their stay in Hong Kong. They even provided forged Hong Kong identity cards and documents for registration of marriage to Hong Kong residents.

The syndicates made arrangements for them to register for marriage with a number of Mainland residents at the Civil Affairs Bureau of places in Guangdong Province  using false identities. This helped Mainland residents obtain Mainland marriage certificates and endorsements for entering Hong Kong so they could stay longer and work unlawfully in Hong Kong.

Arrest details

In the Mainland operation, the 20 arrested people included five Hong Kong and 15 Mainland residents.

The 71 people the Immigration Department arrested included 16 illegal workers, five employers suspected of employing illegal workers, and 42 Mainlanders engaged in prostitution.

Investigators also arrested six Hong Kong and two Mainland residents who are suspected to have conspired with other people to obtain "90-day visa" endorsements by fraudulent means through marriage and by defrauding the Immigration Department.