Integrity Focus

The ICAC today (July 30) charged a merchant with allegedly bribing a bank employee for expediting the process of opening his personal bank account.

Bian Wei-long, 39, merchant, faces one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. He was released on ICAC bail, pending his appearance at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday (August 1) for plea.

At the material time, Bian was a merchant operating duty-free shops in Southeast Asia. In early May 2023, Bian visited a branch of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCB (Asia)) in Central for opening a personal account. He was received by a then sales executive of the branch.

It is alleged that on the next day after his visit to the aforesaid branch of CCB (Asia), Bian offered a bribe of $2,000 to the then sales executive for expediting the account opening process at the bank.

The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint in relation to opening bank accounts. Enquiries revealed that Bian’s bank account was opened shortly after he had paid the bribe to the sales executive mentioned.

Law Tsz-hin, the then sales executive of CCB (Asia), 31, was also earlier charged by the ICAC for his role in the scam. He was earlier sentenced to a jail term of six weeks after pleading guilty at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts to four bribery charges for soliciting and accepting bribes totalling $13,000 for expediting the process of opening personal bank accounts for six clients, including Bian.

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

The ICAC reminds the general public not to bribe bank staff in exchange for its services. Should anyone comes across any suspicion of corruption, he or she should report to the ICAC immediately. 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.