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Fiona Chow

A woman convicted of using a forged reference letter to gain admission to a Hong Kong doctoral programme has been spared jail and ordered to perform 160 hours of community service.
Fanling Magistrate Kenneth Chan Ping-chau said on Monday that he had decided to “make an exception” for 31-year-old Li Zuer, who earlier admitted falsely claiming that a former teaching staff member at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) had written a reference letter for her in March 2024.
The letter praised the mainland Chinese woman for demonstrating “exceptional academic performance”, but was actually drafted by a Shenzhen-based agent whom she had commissioned.
The original letter, written by Li’s teacher Ho Wai-yip in 2021, noted that she still had room to improve her English proficiency. Li subsequently applied unsuccessfully for doctoral programmes several times.
She was eventually admitted to the programme last year after submitting the altered letter. But when university staff conducted an inquiry, Ho confirmed that he had not signed the letter.
Li pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining services by deception.
In mitigation, her legal representative, Senior Counsel Edwin Choy Wai-bond, told Chan earlier that Li had committed the offence because she had “high hopes” for herself.
She was determined to pursue a career in academia and “took the wrong turn” after making multiple unsuccessful applications to doctoral programmes, Choy added.
Citing the background report, Chan said Li took a teaching position at an institution in Guangzhou after completing a master’s degree in Hong Kong. She had received outstanding performance evaluations as a teacher.
Chan said the offence was serious because it had unfairly deprived other candidates of the opportunity to gain admission.
“But considering her outstanding teaching performance and that she has always been law-abiding, she was only influenced by the agent and took the wrong turn. I decided to make an exception … and accept the community service recommendation,” he said in sentencing.
Chan had told the lawyers at an earlier hearing that defendants living across the border could still perform community service, provided that the Immigration Department handled their visas accordingly.


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News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Mainland Chinese student was ordered to perform 160 hours of community service after admitting she used an altered letter to secure admission


Mainland Chinese student was ordered to perform 160 hours of community service after admitting she used an altered letter to secure admission.


Woman spared jail over forging PhD reference letter for Education University

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Mainland Chinese student was ordered to perform 160 hours of community service after admitting she used an altered letter to secure admission

Mainland Chinese student was ordered to perform 160 hours of community service after admitting she used an altered letter to secure admission