Woman pleads guilty to faking HKU legal qualifications to apply for law job

The main building of the University of Hong Kong. Photo (for illustration): So Ka-fai via Wikimedia Commons
The main building of the University of Hong Kong. Photo (for illustration): So Ka-fai via Wikimedia Commons

Jazzing up the resume might seem like a good idea at the time but the bigger the lie, the bigger the consequences.

And this woman — who bought a fake HKU certificate from a mainland website — is facing consequences.

The 29-year-old yesterday pleaded guilty to forging her legal qualifications in order to get a job at a prestigious law firm.

The woman, surnamed Cheung, altered her GPA in order to get into a postgraduate law programme, and later bought a fake certificate online after she failed to pass the exams needed to gain the postgraduate qualification.

She worked briefly at an intern lawyer at a Hong Kong law firm, but was found out after she filed an application to be a trainee solicitor.

Apple Daily reports Cheung pleaded guilty to five crimes during her appearance at the District Court yesterday morning: using a false instrument, using a copy of a false instrument, obtaining services by deception, obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception, and making a false statutory declaration.

According to the newspaper, it all began in 2013 when Cheung was awarded a Juris Doctor from the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) law faculty, and she decided to apply for the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

She was admitted onto the HKU PCLL after altering her transcript, which included changing her GPA from 2.492 to 3.46, writing that she passed her exam on land law and removing a note on the transcript that said she was disciplined for misconduct.

Cheung was admitted onto HKU’s PCLL programme, but dropped out in 2015 after failing the exam twice. She then bought a fake HKU PCLL certificate for HK$1,000 from a mainland website.

She then used those fake qualifications to get an internship at the law firm Leung Pansy Tang & Chua, and in the same year filed an application to the Law Society to be a trainee solicitor, Ming Pao reports.

It was at this point that Cheung was found out, and she was subsequently fired.

In mitigating statements, the defense said that Cheung was born to a complicated and poor family, was suffering from depression during her studies, worked hard to get into HKU, had developed a lot personally from entering the legal profession, and wrote a letter to the judge stating that she felt remorse for what she had done.

The defense went on to add that Cheung now works as a financial consultant at an investment company, and — with a monthly income of HK$38,000 (US$4,800) — is the family’s breadwinner.

According to HK01, the judge said that what Cheung did was very serious, and that she deprived others of the opportunity to enter the legal profession.

The judge also noted that Cheung had accrued a lot of debts from the loans she took out to fund her studies, and added that she would not have found herself in this situation if she had just realised she was not suited for the legal profession and would be much happier doing something else.

Cheung has been released on bail until September 26 where sentencing will take place, pending a report from social services.

Editor’s note: Cheung’s full name has been redacted from the article.



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