Integrity Focus

A former bank employee and an intermediary were charged by the ICAC yesterday (March 13) for allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes totalling $13,000 for expediting the process of opening personal bank accounts for six clients.

Law Tsz-hin, 30, former business sales executive of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCB (Asia)), faces four charges – one of agent soliciting an advantage; two of agent accepting an advantage and one 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.

Hu Yi, 39, sole director of Gangchen International Business Consulting (Shenzhen) Company Limited (Gangchen), faces the charge of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages.

The duo were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (March 15) for plea.

At the material time, Law was a business sales executive of the Central Branch of CCB (Asia). He was responsible for opening personal bank accounts and answering enquiries from clients. Gangchen was an intermediary company providing commercial secretarial and bank account opening services.

It is alleged that between late April and mid-May 2023, when Law was handling account opening matters, he solicited a bribe of $5,000 from a client and accepted bribes totalling $5,000 from two other clients for expediting the trio’s account opening process.

Law and Hu allegedly conspired together during the period for Law to accept bribes from Hu for expediting the account opening process of clients referred by Hu. It is alleged that bribes totalling $3,000 were involved for three clients referred to Law by Hu.

CCB (Asia) has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.

The ICAC has been actively promoting corruption prevention services to banks and enhancing banking practitioners’ knowledge on the anti-corruption laws. The newly launched “Corruption Prevention Guide for Banks” assists banks in managing corruption risks in core operations, including accounts opening. An Ethics Promotion Programme for the Banking Industry was also launched to help bank staff to understand common corruption loopholes.