A 38-year-old mainland man admitted to Hong Kong under the Top Talent Pass Scheme was acquitted on Thursday of possessing a false instrument, after a magistrate found there was insufficient evidence to prove the charge.
The defendant, Li Zhicheng, had been charged with possessing a false instrument after he was found with a copy of an allegedly fake degree certificate during an inspection by an immigration officer on June 8, 2025.
The copy stated that Li held a master’s degree in finance issued by Kyiv State University of Economics and Business (Hong Kong Campus), a qualification that was not mentioned in his Hong Kong identity card application in February 2024.
An investigation by the Education Bureau also found that the institution had never been registered in Hong Kong.
Handing down the ruling at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday morning, Magistrate Jeffrey Sze Cho-yiu acquitted Li, saying the prosecution had failed to establish the elements of the offense.
Citing the definition of a “false instrument,” Sze said the prosecution had only proved that the content of the degree copy was false, but not that the identity or authority of the signatory, or the issuing date, was false.
Li’s application under the Top Talent Pass Scheme was approved in October 2023. He later applied for a Hong Kong identity card in February 2024.
