Woman, 28, jailed for using fake certificates to get into University of Hong Kong
Magistrate slams her ‘consistent dishonesty’, punishes her with 240-day prison term for using fake Columbia University certificates
A mainland Chinese student has been sentenced to 240 days in prison for using fake certificates including one from a US Ivy League university to gain admission to a top Hong Kong tertiary institution.
The student, who also possessed another forged certificate showing her graduating with distinction from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), was slammed by a magistrate for her consistent dishonesty.
Li Sixuan, 28, was jailed on Thursday for using a false certificate from Columbia University to apply for the Master of Arts in applied linguistics programme at HKU in 2022.
She earlier pleaded guilty to obtaining services by deception and possessing a false instrument.
HKU flagged Li’s questionable qualification records after it uncovered in March last year a number of students using fabricated documents allegedly produced by mainland education consultancies.
Li admitted that she paid 380,000 yuan (US$52,000) to hire an agent to arrange an online course provided by Columbia University. She received a “graduation” certificate after attending it for a few days.