ST JAMES, Jamaica – A Chinese man, who failed in his attempt to leave the island on a fraudulent Canadian permanent resident card, received a monetary penalty of $100,000 when he appeared in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday.

Qin Zhang, 27, who is of a China address, pleaded guilty to uttering a forged document.

According to court documents, on August 26 at about 12:30 pm at the Sangster International Airport, the accused man uttered a Chinese passport and a Canadian permanent resident card, both in his name, while checking in to board a West Jet flight to Toronto, Canada.

The agent became suspicious as the permanent resident card was missing some security features.

The matter was subsequently reported to the Investigation and Surveillance Unit.

When the errors were pointed out to Zhang, he claimed that the document had been given to him by family members in China.

The Canadian High Commission was contacted and the document was confirmed to be fraudulent.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Zhang told the court, through a Chinese translator, that the person who gave them the document told them it was a legitimate document that would allow him to travel to Canada, and he was unaware that it was fraudulent.

Presiding judge Sasha-Marie Smith-Ashley took into account his early guilty plea, his previous good character and the fact that he has people who are dependent on him.

She then imposed a $100,000 fine on him. If it is not paid, he will serve 30 days in jail.