Mainland woman jailed 4 months for using forged UCLA degree to gain HKU master’s program admission

A 24-year-old mainland woman was sentenced to four months in prison for using a forged bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to secure a student visa and admission to a master’s program at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). 

The defendant, Wang Yihan, who claimed to be unemployed, pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining services by deception at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday. A second charge of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining an entry permit was withdrawn by the prosecution.  

The defence submitted mitigation letters from Wang and her parents, stating she was deeply remorseful and had voluntarily surrendered her bail at an earlier hearing. The court was told her parents were suffering from illnesses requiring surgery, which had been delayed due to her absence. She was also described as having a clear record, having published academic papers during her university studies, and participating in volunteer work. 

Magistrate Ko Wai-hung described the offence as serious, noting that Wang’s use of forged academic credentials had misled HKU into believing her bogus qualifications. 

He said that while it remained unknown whether the defendant would have been admitted using her actual qualifications, her clear intention was to increase her chances of admission. Her actions potentially deprived other qualified applicants of a place at the university. 

Ko concluded that a deterrent sentence was necessary to prevent similar incidents and sentenced her to four months’ imprisonment. 

The court heard that in March 2023, Wang applied to HKU’s Master of Science in Engineering program, claiming she had graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2022, with a GPA of 3.81. 

Based on these fraudulent credentials, she was admitted to the program in July 2023 and began her studies in August. 

In April 2023, she also applied for a student visa to enter Hong Kong, making the same false academic claim to the Immigration Department. 

The fraud came to light in March 2024 after HKU received a complaint regarding Wang’s credentials. Upon inquiring with UCLA, the university confirmed that Wang had never been enrolled there. HKU subsequently terminated her studies and reported the matter to the police. 

Wang was wanted and was eventually intercepted by Hong Kong Customs officers at Lo Wu in December 2025. Under caution, she admitted she had actually graduated from Henan University and had obtained the fake UCLA documents through an intermediary agency.