A woman, charged by the ICAC, was today (Monday) sentenced to eight months' imprisonment at Kwun Tong Magistracy for deceiving over $75,000 in Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), and engaging in a bogus marriage to enable a Mainlander to apply for the right of abode in Hong Kong.

The defendant, 50, unemployed, was also ordered by Magistrate Mr Abu Bakar bin Wahab to serve another nine months in jail for breaching the suspended sentence order in relation to an offence of possession of a forged Hong Kong identity card that she committed earlier.

The magistrate also ordered the defendant to pay over $75,000 as compensation to the government.

The defendant earlier pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud and one of conspiracy to defraud.

The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offences.

The court heard that since June 1999, the defendant had become a CSSA recipient.

In March 2006, the defendant and her then boyfriend purchased a property in Shenzhen at the price of 540,000 Renminbi. They subsequently sold the property at 1,020,000 Renminbi.

Between May 2006 and April 2008, social security officers of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) had conducted a number of reviews with the defendant.

On five occasions when the reviews were conducted, the defendant failed to disclose her ownership of the property to SWD officers.

As a result, a total of over $75,000 in CSSA was paid to the defendant.

The court also heard that in early 2004, the defendant was engaged in a bogus marriage with a Mainlander. The defendant and the Mainlander had their marriage solemnized at a marriage registry in Hong Kong.

As a result, the Immigration Department was deceived into certifying the marriage which would enable the Mainlander to apply for the right of abode in Hong Kong. The Mainlander however had never made such application to the Immigration Department. In April 2009, the defendant divorced the Mainlander.

After being arrested by ICAC officers, the defendant admitted that she had received from the Mainlander $20,000, being the initial payment out of the $35,000 that the Mainlander promised to pay her for the false marriage scam, the court was told.

The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Esther Poon.