Read More
A 30-year-old mainland student was sentenced to three months in jail for applying to a local master’s program by lying about having graduated from New York University (NYU) and arranging for others to take the online interview on his behalf.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) raised suspicion of the man due to his poor academic performance, around eight months after accepting him into the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.
In a hearing on Tuesday, Bao Junyang pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining services by deception at Shatin Magistrates’ Courts before acting principal magistrate Cheang Kei-hong.
In mitigation, the defence said Bao deeply regretted his action, saying that he committed the crime out of foolishness following a suggestion from the education agency handling his CUHK application.
The defense pleaded for a more lenient community service sentence rather than imprisonment. However, Cheang dismissed the sentencing proposal as impractical for the mainland defendant.
The judge said the starting jail sentence would be 4.5 months, but deducted the length by one-third for the guilty plea, meaning the defendant will serve 3 months in prison.
The court has heard that Bao received an MBA offer from CUHK in February 2023 and began his studies in August the same year, including attending lectures, using libraries and taking exams.
However, due to his poor learning performance in April 2024, CUHK initiated an internal investigation and confirmed with NYU that the defendant was never a graduate of the United States private institution.
This led to CUHK reporting the matter to police and revoking his admission status. Bao was arrested when he entered Hong Kong through the Lok Ma Chau border control point on September 16, 2024.
Bao originally faced another charge of “causing to be made a false statement for the purpose of obtaining an entry permit” in the case, but the prosecution was withdrawn.
(Jamie Liu)
(File photo)
