Chinese nationals charged with falsifying residency documents remanded to prison

Published by BBNTEAM at March 27, 2023

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Posted: Monday, March 27, 2023. 9:27 pm CST.

By Breaking Belize News Staff: Two Chinese nationals have been remanded to the Belize Central Prison after being charged for falsifying their permanent resident documents.

Today, 27-year-old Tianming Chen and 33-year-old, Kai Lin, of Fujian, China, appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court charged jointly with a single count of uttering upon a false document. They both spoke only their native language, Mandarin, and had to be provided with an interpreter for the proceedings.

The duo was allegedly intercepted by Immigration personnel on Friday, March 24, 2023, while entering Belize via the Philip Goldson International Airport. They reportedly presented a fabricated Belize Residence Verification letter to the Immigration Officer at the place of entry. According to Immigration Department allegations, the letter bore the signature of the Director of Border Management & Immigration Service when in fact the letter was not issued by her.

Their attorney, Arthur Saldivar, asked the court to grant them bail on the grounds that they entered Belize with their passports and visitor permits which are legal, and that they do not pose a flight risk. The Immigration Department disagreed and objected to bail on several grounds. The court ultimately remanded both men until April 3.

However, Saldivar has applied for a writ of habeas corpus, a means of legal recourse to challenge unlawful imprisonment, in the High Court of Belize and noted the hearing on that application will happen tomorrow.

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