Integrity Focus

A director of an intermediary company was charged by the ICAC yesterday (May 17) for allegedly offering bribes totalling $20,000 to a bank manager for assisting two non-domestic clients to open corporate accounts with the bank.

Tam Wing-kin, 35, sole shareholder-cum-director of Minerva Services Limited (Minerva), faces one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.

The defendant was released on ICAC bail, pending his appearance at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (May 19) for plea.

The defendant was the sole shareholder-cum-director of Minerva, an intermediary company proving secretarial services to clients.

It is alleged that between September and October 2020, the defendant offered bribes of $20,000 to a then senior relationship manager of The Bank of East Asia, Limited (BEA) for opening bank accounts at BEA for clients referred by the defendant.

BEA required corporate account applicants to attend its branches in person and to provide identification documents for verification for due diligence purpose. The bank would not accept application to open a corporate bank account if an applicant could not meet those requirements.

ICAC investigation revealed that the defendant had allegedly provided information of two clients to the bank manager, and the applicants did not meet with the bank manager.

The aforesaid bank manager Lai Chee-wai, 39, was earlier charged with offences including bribery. He pleaded guilty to the charges and his case was adjourned to January 10 next year for mitigation and sentence.

BEA has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the cases.

The ICAC has recently launched the “Corruption Prevention Guide for Banks” to enhance the corruption prevention capabilities of banks and assist banks in managing corruption risks in core operations including account opening and referral of client through case scenarios and corruption prevention safeguards. To promote probity culture in the banking sector, an Ethics Promotion Programme for the Banking Industry was also launched, under which a self-learning animation series “Unveil the Secret: Integrity Myths in the Banking Industry” was produced to help frontline bank staff understand common corruption loopholes.