Five Mainlanders were jailed by the District Court today for their roles in an immigration scam.

One was sentenced to 28 months, and the four others to 22 months, after pleading guilty to possessing forged travel documents, making false representation, and conspiracy to obtain services by deception.

On July 10, the first defendant was intercepted at the airline check-in counter at Hong Kong International Airport, where he intended to board a flight to Dubai. A forged Japanese passport bearing his photo and four forged HKSAR passports bearing the photos of the other four defendants were found in the inner cover of his notebook.

The other four defendants were apprehended at the boarding gate, where they intended to board the same flight as the first defendant. They admitted they had made false representation in claiming they would travel to Bali for sightseeing, while they actually intended to go to Argentina for work.

Forensic examination confirmed that the Japanese passport and four HKSAR passports were fake.