Integrity Focus

The ICAC today (October 21) charged a man with allegedly offering $1,000 to bribe a bank staff member for opening a business bank account for his company.

Lyu Ganzhen, 36, businessman, faces one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. He will appear at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (October 22) for plea.

The investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Inquiries revealed that on August 27, 2024, the defendant visited a branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) in Fanling, requesting to open a business account for his company. He was received by a branch staff member.

Understanding that the defendant intended to open a personal bank account for business purpose, the bank staff explained to the defendant that he was required to apply at HSBC Business Centre for opening a company bank account. The defendant was alleged to have handed a passport containing a bank note of HK$1,000 to the bank staff, who immediately rejected the offer.

Subsequently, the defendant was alleged to have handed the passport with the HK$1,000 bank note to the bank staff twice again, stating that he did not come to Hong Kong very often and requested the bank staff to offer assistance in opening a company account. The bank staff rejected the defendant’s offer and reported the incident to his supervisor immediately. The defendant was arrested by ICAC officers on the same day upon his departure from Hong Kong.

HSBC had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.