Integrity Focus
Recent ICAC Cases
Oct 2023Man charged by ICAC in court for bribing bank employee over account opening
A man appeared in the Tuen Mun Magistrates’ Courts today (October 5) for mention after being charged by the ICAC with bribing a bank employee for opening a personal bank account.
Wan Liang, 39, faced one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.
No plea was taken today. Magistrate Mr Raymond Wong Kwok-fai adjourned the case to November 16 for mention. The defendant was granted bail.
On October 26, 2019, the defendant visited a branch of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) in Yuen Long for opening a personal bank account and was received by a universal banker.
The defendant allegedly resorted to offering a bribe of an unspecified amount to the universal banker for opening a personal bank account for him since he failed to provide HSBC with any supporting documents in respect of the source of the funds for opening a bank account. The bank employee immediately rejected the defendant’s bribery offer and reported the matter to the bank. The defendant’s account opening application was rejected by HSBC on the same day and he left Hong Kong subsequently.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. The defendant was arrested yesterday (October 4) when he visited Hong Kong again and was charged by the ICAC this morning.
HSBC had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Gary Li.
The ICAC reminds the general public not to bribe bank staff in exchange for its services. 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. To promote probity culture in the banking sector, an Ethics Promotion Programme for the Banking Industry was also launched to help managerial and other ranks of bank staff understand common corruption loopholes.