A mainland Chinese woman has been handed a 160-hour community service order after pleading guilty to forging a reference letter for her application to a doctoral programme at a Hong Kong university.
The Education University of Hong Kong. Photo: Education University of Hong Kong.Li Zuer, who faced a charge of obtaining services by deception, appeared at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts on Monday.
The court heard earlier that she had commissioned an agent to rewrite a reference letter for a doctoral programme at the Education University of Hong Kong, after previously failing to gain admission, local media reported.
According to the prosecution, she submitted a doctored letter – dated March 2024 – based on a reference that was written for her by Ho Wai-yip, a former associate professor at the Education University who taught her when she was studying for a master’s degree there.
The letter stated that Li’s English proficiency could be improved. The edited version was rewritten to state that Li’s academic performance was exceptional.
Fanling Magistrates’ Courts. Photo: Peter Lee/HKFP.Li was admitted to the university, studying international and comparative education. She has since lost her place at the school.
Handing down the sentence, magistrate Kenneth Chan said the case was serious as Li could have robbed another applicant of their chance for enrolment, The Witness reported.
But he said he took into account the defence’s evidence that Li had strong academic results and was devoted to teaching, and committed the offence because she was influenced by her agent.
Li’s mother submitted a mitigation letter to the court stating that her daughter had always been an honest person and felt remorseful about her offence.
Chan said that while imprisonment was a viable punishment for her case, he had decided to give her a chance and sentenced her to community service instead.