Anti-graft body detects three cases of residency obtained through deception

The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has detected three cases involving the use of forged documents to apply for residency through investment immigration.
The applicant in one of the cases was found to take the opportunity of his relative purchasing a flat in Macau to register himself as an owner some years ago. He then, as the owner, applied for temporary residency to the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM).
After investigation, the CCAC found that the flat was actually purchased by the relative of the applicant who lived there. To guarantee the rights and interests of his relative, the applicant conferred the right of disposition to the former, who would sell the flat upon the latter becoming a permanent resident of Macau.
In another case, the applicant was suspected to have been involved in the bogus purchase of two flats so as to apply for temporary residency to the IPIM some years ago. After investigation, the CCAC found that the flat had all along been owned by the relative who lived there. The relevant transactions were found to be bogus.
After becoming a permanent resident of Macau, the applicant transferred the ownership of one flat back to his relative. The other flat was put on sale by the relative whom was conferred the right of disposition.
The CCAC also found that a resident from the Chinese mainland was suspected to have obtained residency in Macau by means of providing false academic records during his application for temporary residency through purchasing immovable property.
After investigation, the CCAC found that the academic records submitted by the said person were factually incorrect – neither did he study at the secondary school or graduate from it as claimed.
The applicants in the three cases allegedly committed document forgery provided for in Law on Illegal Entry, Illegal Stay and Deportation. The CCAC has completed the relevant investigations and referred the cases to the Public Prosecutions Office for follow-up work.
The CCAC discovery of the three cases comes just weeks after a former president of IPIM was sentenced to a two-year jail term for breach of secrecy and inexact asset declaration. Former president Jackson Chang had been accused of abuse of power, corruption and criminal association charges but was acquitted during the trial. According to his lawyer, Chang is now appealing the decision reached by the Court of First Instance. DB