THE Nanshan District People’s Procuratorate has approved the arrest of 11 suspects for allegedly selling Hong Kong business travel permits to 130 people.

    According to the prosecutors, one of the suspects, surnamed Feng, registered a company in Shenzhen in 2015. He and his accomplices had illegally helped as many as 130 people obtain business travel permits to Hong Kong by changing their companies’ business registration information since March 2016. They profiteered over 1.5 million yuan (US$216,866) by charging each customer between 19,000 and 21,000 yuan.

    The prosecutors said that those who illegally sold entry-exit permits to others would be held criminally responsible and sentenced to five years or more in prison depending on the severity of their violations. The prosecutors also urged the entry-exit administration departments to intensify the verification and supervision of business travel permit applications.

    Under the current rules that were adopted to crack down on parallel traders, travelers with Hong Kong tourism permits are limited to one trip per week, whereas people with business travel permits are not subject to such limits. (Zhang Yang)