Mainland student jailed for eight months for faking degree to enter HKU

A 28-year-old mainland woman was sentenced to 240 days in prison after faking a Columbia University degree to enroll at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and forging her graduation results. 

This would be the heftiest penalty yet handed down for forging academic documents after magistrate Cheang Kei-hong said she has "persisted in her dishonest conduct”.

At Shatin Magistrates' Courts on Thursday, Acting Principal Magistrate Cheang said the defendant, Li Sixuan, first lied about her credentials to secure admission, then faked a HKU certification to falsely claim outstanding grades.

Between 2022 and 2024, Li falsely claimed that she had earned a linguistics degree from Columbia University in New York to enter HKU’s applied linguistics master’s program.

After completing the course, she forged her graduation certificate, changing her actual "pass" grade to "distinction”.

During an earlier hearing, Cheang had requested data on the program’s enrollment to assess whether Li’s fraud deprived another qualified student of a spot. 

Prosecutors confirmed Thursday that the program had 95 available slots but only admitted 93 students during the relevant period, meaning her actions did not affect others’ chances.

Li earlier pleaded guilty to obtaining services by deception and possessing a false instrument. A third charge, making a false statement to obtain an entry permit, was dropped.

The defense pleaded for leniency, stating Li had suffered significant distress over the case and had shown remorse. 

They also noted no evidence suggested she used the fake documents for illegal immigration purposes. 

However, Cheang emphasized the seriousness of her offenses, setting a starting point of 300 days for each charge before reducing the sentence to one-third due to her guilty plea.

Cheang also ruled that 40 days of the sentences cannot be served concurrently, resulting in a total of 240 days.

(Ayra Wang)