The ringleader and a core member of a cross-border syndicate that made more than HK$10 million by arranging at least 150 bogus marriages between Hongkongers and mainland Chinese have each been jailed for 33 months.

The pair were sentenced on Wednesday after the 45-year-old male ringleader and the core member – a 52-year-old woman – were convicted of five counts of conspiracy to defraud at the District Court last month. The man was also convicted of one count of conspiracy to obtain services by deception.

They were among 164 people, aged 20 to 65, rounded up since 2017 in connection with fake marriages arranged by the syndicate, according to Yung Ka-wai, assistant principal immigration officer.

Immigration Department officers Wong Tsz-kin (left), Yung Ka-wai and Lam Chun-yip.

He said it was the biggest syndicate the Immigration Department had broken up in terms of the number of fake marriages involved.

Of the 85 men and 79 women caught, 126 were Hong Kong residents and 38 from the mainland.

Yung said 60 per cent of the local residents involved were aged between 19 and 35 and included university students and professionals such as a nurse.

He said the syndicate began operating as early as 2014 by placing advertisements in newspapers with terms such as “quick cash” and “easy job” to draw in people looking for work.

“To attract young people to sign up, this racket contacted them via instant messaging and dating apps in addition to advertising in newspapers,” Yung said.

He said there was a rising trend of young people taking part in fake messages in recent years because some of them wanted to earn pocket money or had financial difficulties.

The syndicate lured locals into bogus marriages with mainlanders with the promise of up to HK$200,000 as a reward.

As much as HK$80,000 in extra rewards was also promised if the mainland “partner” could obtain a one-way permit – a document issued by authorities across the border allowing people to move to Hong Kong – after the bogus marriage.

According to the Immigration Department, they were unable to receive their expected rewards after completing relevant marriage registrations in the city and the mainland.

“Members of the syndicate were unable to be contacted after fake marriages. At the end, those who took part only received hundreds or thousands of dollars each,” Yung said.

But he said mainlanders had to pay between 80,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan each to sign up for a fake marriage in an attempt to gain Hong Kong residency.

He warned that those who had obtained residency by fraudulent means would have their residence status and Hong Kong identity cards invalidated under the city’s laws.

Apart from the pair sentenced on Wednesday, 32 people had earlier been convicted of offences relating to fake marriages arranged by the syndicate and sentenced to jail terms from nine months to 26 months.

The department had been rounding up suspects since 2017.

Latest department figures show 148 marriages were suspected to be bogus in the first six months of this year.

The number of suspected fake marriages dropped from 644 in 2019 to 292 in 2020 and 227 last year. Yung said the drop was the result of travel restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic as those who had signed up for bogus marriages could not come to the city or go to the mainland to do the related registrations.

“The Immigration Department will continue to spare no effort in combating bogus marriages and related fraud activities,” he stressed.

In Hong Kong, conspiracy to defraud is punishable by up to 14 years in jail while making a false statement or representation to immigration officers carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison and a HK$150,000 fine. The department warned that aiders and abettors were also liable to prosecution and the same penalties.