Man jailed 18 months for arranging girlfriend’s sham marriage

A 34-year-old businessman, Ling Chun-shing (also known as Kim Cheuk-yu, Yip Hyun-hei, and Yip Ho-lun), was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud for arranging a sham marriage between his girlfriend and a mainland Chinese man to gain entry to Hong Kong.

The girlfriend earlier pleaded guilty and testified against him.

The court heard that Ling promised to marry her after the sham marriage, which led her to agree as she was in love with him.

Magistrate Raymond Wong Kwok-fai rejected the defense’s claim that no force was used on the girlfriend on the day of the sham marriage in January 2019. She did not leave but went to the Tsim Sha Tsui marriage registry with the mainland man. Ling followed her by car throughout the day and later picked her up, keeping her under surveillance so she did not leave.

The girlfriend returned to the mainland three times between 2019 and 2023 to handle related procedures, while the marriage certificate remained with the mainland man until the final process was completed. The court also rejected claims that she had fabricated the allegations, noting that she had supported Ling financially and allowed him to live with her.

The magistrate found that Ling conspired with others to defraud the Immigration Department by arranging a sham marriage to gain entry to Hong Kong. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.