Integrity Focus

A former bank employee, charged by the ICAC, was today (February 2) sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment at the District Court for defrauding two clients of insurance premiums totalling over HK$820,000.

Chan Ka-him, 34, former insurance specialist of the Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Standard Chartered Bank), was earlier found guilty of three counts of fraud and one count of attempted fraud, contrary to Section 16A of the Theft Ordinance.

In sentencing, Deputy District Judge Mr Peter Hui reprimanded the defendant for premeditating the scam, breaching the trust placed in him and undermining the reputation of the bank concerned.

The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was posted to a branch of Standard Chartered Bank in Wan Chai. His job duties included the promotion of insurance products of Prudential Hong Kong Limited (Prudential HK) to clients of the bank under a business agreement with the insurer. Between January and March 2019, the defendant assisted two clients to take out two insurance policies of Prudential HK through Standard Chartered Bank.

The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that the defendant induced the two clients to transfer US$52,300 (about HK$408,000) and over HK$420,000 to the bank account of an associate of him in August and September 2019 respectively by falsely representing to assist them in settling premium payment with Prudential HK. The defendant subsequently attempted to induce Prudential HK to cancel the insurance policy by falsely claiming that the clients requested to do so.

Standard Chartered Bank and Prudential HK had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.

The prosecution was today represented by Public Prosecutor Wayne Lee, assisted by ICAC officers Emily Cheung and KK Chu.

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 selling of insurance products and referral of client through case scenarios and corruption prevention safeguards. The Commission will continue to collaborate with banks to provide integrity training for their staff.