A then bank manager charged by ICAC was today (August 24) convicted at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts of breaching the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) by disclosing to a family member that he was under ICAC investigation.

Lau Shui-ngo, 44, former customer services manager of Chiyu Banking Corporation Limited (Chiyu Bank), was found guilty after trial of one count of disclosing the identity, etc. of a person being investigated, contrary to section 30(1)(a) of the POBO.

In convicting the defendant, Magistrate Mr Tsang Chung-yiu noted that the spirit of Section 30 of the POBO is to prohibit any person from leaking information regarding ICAC investigations to prevent those under investigation from being alerted. The law therefore explicitly prohibits any act of disclosing ICAC investigations. The magistrate adjourned the case to September 4 for sentencing, pending the defendant’s community service order report and granted her bail.

The court heard that in late January 2025, the ICAC wrote to Chiyu Bank requesting information on an account related to an ongoing investigation. The letter was subsequently passed to its Tokwawan branch, where the account was opened. As the defendant was deployed to the branch at that time, and her duties included handling enquiries from law enforcement agencies, she was authorised to access the ICAC letter and learned that the account in question had been opened by a family member of hers.

Although the ICAC letter carried a reminder that the request and the information contained in the letter were confidential and should be carefully protected, and that disclosure of such confidential information could constitute a breach of the POBO, the defendant nonetheless disclosed to her family member that he was the subject of an ICAC investigation.

Under section 30 of the POBO, any person who discloses details of an investigation or the identity of a subject without lawful authority or reasonable excuse shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of one year’s imprisonment and a fine of $25,000.

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

The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Sabrina See, assisted by ICAC officer Paul Chiu.
 

A then bank employee, charged by the ICAC, admitted at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts today (August 11) that she had accepted RMB500 in bribes for each client referred by an intermediary who successfully opened a bank account.

Pan Xiuzhen, 30, then relationship manager of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Standard Chartered Bank), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.

Principal Magistrate Mr David Cheung Chi-wai adjourned the case to October 9 for sentencing and granted the defendant bail.

The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was posted to a branch of Standard Chartered Bank in Central. Her duties included assisting new clients in opening bank accounts. She admitted to accepting bribes from an intermediary between November 2023 and April 2024 to facilitate account openings for clients referred by the intermediary, with each successful account opening accepting a bribe of RMB500.

The ICAC investigation stemmed from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that during the offence period, the defendant had successfully assisted 16 clients referred by the intermediary to open bank accounts and accepted bribes totalling RMB8,000.

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

The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Benny Chang.

An ICAC corruption investigation revealed that an illegal syndicate, with the assistance of bank staff in signing and issuing false bank documents, deceived Japanese investors into investing over JPY400 million (about HK$28.4 million at the material time) in various companies that falsely claimed to be undertaking investment projects in Africa by asserting that their bank accounts held assets totalling over HK$37 billion. The five defendants had either entered guilty pleas or been convicted after trial. Of them, two then bank managers were sentenced today (August 6) at the District Court to three years’ imprisonment.

Woo Man-ho, 38; and Chan Tak-ching, 39, both then relationship managers of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Standard Chartered Bank), were each sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. They earlier pleaded guilty to a total of four counts of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to the Common Law.

In sentencing, Judge Mr Clement Lee Hing-nin remarked that the defendants premeditated the crimes, seriously breached trust, and undermined investor confidence in the bank. The judge added that the offences, which spanned over one and a half years and involved numerous victims and over HK$28 million in fraud, warranted deterrent sentences. The scam would likely have continued, had it not been exposed.

The judge took a starting point of six years’ imprisonment and reduced the duo’s jail terms to three years each, considering their guilty pleas and assistance rendered to the prosecution.

Leung Ho-yin, 40, another then relationship manager of Standard Chartered Bank; and Law Man-fai, 52, self-employed financial consultant, earlier pleaded guilty to a total of three counts of conspiracy to defraud. Co-defendant Catherine Kum Kit-ching, 58, manager of ADF Capital Limited (ADF), was earlier found guilty after trial of one count of conspiracy to deal with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence (commonly known as money laundering), contrary to section 25(1) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. The trio are remanded until September 30 for sentence.

The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. At the material time, Woo, Chan and Leung were working at Standard Chartered Bank’s business banking department and priority banking department, respectively. At that time, Law was a self-employed financial consultant, while Kum was a manager of investment company ADF.

The court heard that between January 2015 and September 2016, Woo, Chan, Leung and Law conspired with four foreign nationals to use false proof of fund letters and corporate refund promissory notes to deceive various Japanese investors into making investments totalling over JPY400 million in ADF and several other companies.

The four defendants used the false documents, signed by Woo and Chan and purportedly issued by Standard Chartered Bank, to falsely claim that Standard Chartered Bank was the guarantor of ADF which undertook to pay about HK$450 million, and that the foreign nationals involved in the case had substantial funds totalling over HK$37 billion available for investments in Africa.

The four foreign nationals included two shareholders-cum-directors of ADF, specifically a Zambian man and a Korean man; a Thai man who was Chan’s client; and a Japanese woman who was the chief executive officer of a company.

Meanwhile, Kum conspired with the Zambian man and the Korean man to use a bank account to launder crime proceeds totalling about HK$55 million, representing the sum handled by the four co-defendants in the scam.

The ICAC enquiries revealed that Standard Chartered Bank had never held the assets concerned on behalf of the foreign nationals.

Standard Chartered Bank rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.

The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Wong Hay-yiu, assisted by ICAC officer Krystie Cheng.

Three people, including a then bank employee and an intermediary, were charged by the ICAC yesterday (August 4) for allegedly accepting and offering bribes totalling $29,000 for assisting clients of the intermediary to open bank accounts.

Cheng Hoi-ying, 31, then universal banker of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC); Lin Po-hsien, 27, intermediary; and Cheng Ka-yiu, 35, a friend of Cheng Hoi-ying, jointly face one count of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.

Cheng Hoi-ying also faces four counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the POBO, while Lin faces one count of offering advantages to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the POBO.

The trio was released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (August 6) for plea.

At the material time, Cheng Hoi-ying was posted to a branch of HSBC in Sheung Wan. Lin, who worked as an intermediary, would arrange his clients to purchase insurance products from a broker firm and open bank accounts for settling insurance premiums.

The charges allege that between May and October 2024, the three defendants accepted and offered bribes for Cheng Hoi-ying to process bank account applications for clients referred by Lin. The trio is suspected of conspiring to offer a bribe of $13,000 to Cheng Hoi-ying while Cheng Hoi-ying allegedly accepted four sums totalling $16,000 from Lin. Meanwhile, Lin allegedly offered between $300 and $600 to Cheng Hoi-ying for each client he referred to her.

HSBC found several suspicious account opening applications handled by Cheng Hoi-ying in an internal investigation, and suspected that she had not fully fulfilled the bank’s due diligence requirements. Subsequently, the ICAC received a corruption complaint, and its investigation revealed the corrupt dealings of the three defendants.

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