Woman spared jail over forging PhD reference letter for Education University

A woman has been spared jail time for forging a reference letter to gain admission to a doctoral programme at Education University in Hong Kong. Fanling Magistrate Kenneth Chan Ping-chau granted 31-year-old Li Zuer a 160-hour community service sentence on Monday, after she admitted to falsely claiming a former teaching staff member at EdUHK had written the letter praising her academic performance.

The letter, which Li had commissioned from an agent in Shenzhen, was actually written by her teacher in 2021 and noted that she still needed to improve her English. Li applied unsuccessfully for doctoral programmes multiple times before being admitted to the programme last year after submitting the forged letter. When university staff conducted an inquiry, they discovered that the letter was not signed by her teacher.

Li pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining services by deception. Her legal representative cited Li's high hopes for a career in academia and her law-abiding nature, stating that the offense unfairly deprived other candidates of the opportunity to gain admission. However, the judge considered Li's outstanding teaching performance and her law-abiding nature, making an exception and accepting her recommendation for community service.