4 visa applicants and immigration consultancy charged over Hong Kong investment visa fraud
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s anti-graft watchdog has charged four people and the head of an immigration consultancy with conspiracy to defraud over applications for investment visas.
Tam Chi-ming, 50, sole director and shareholder of Wealth Concepts Consultancy (Greater China) Ltd, was charged in June with one count of conspiracy to defraud. He now faces 10 additional charges following advice from the Department of Justice.
The consultancy allegedly made false representations about the applications from four people, Li Ju, Wei Xinwen, Lu Junkai and Cao Hongguang, who were charged on Wednesday with conspiring to defraud the Immigration Department.
Another employee of the consultancy, Su Dajie, 38, was also charged, according to a statement issued by the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Thursday.
The six defendants have been released on ICAC bail pending a court mention at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Friday. The prosecution will apply for the case to be transferred to the District Court.
The watchdog alleged that Tam had conspired with eight applicants, including Li, Wei, Lu, and Cao, to trick the Immigration Department into approving their Hong Kong entry visas between April 2016 and July 2024.
False representations
The consultancy allegedly submitted applications falsely representing that the eight applicants had each invested HK$10 million in bonds – the sum needed for an applicant to be granted permission to stay in Hong Kong for two years under the 2003 Capital Investment Entrant Scheme.
Though the scheme was suspended in 2015, entrants must continue to satisfy its requisites including maintaining the portfolio, according to the Immigration Department.
Enquiries following a graft complaint revealed that the applicants did not have enough funds to meet the relevant investment requirements, the ICAC said.
Tam’s June prosecution will be mentioned at the Kowloon City courthouse in February next year.
The ICAC said it was reviewing various investment entrant and talent admission schemes with relevant government departments to strengthen regulation and “stamp out corruption or other malpractices.”
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