Recent ICAC Cases
The ICAC today (September 30) charged a former employee of a cryptocurrency over-the-counter (OTC) trading store for allegedly accepting bribes to secretly divert clients to execute multiple Tether (USDT) transactions with cryptocurrency wallets belonging to others, involving a total transaction volume of nearly HK$9 million within a three-month period.
Hung Pak-hin, 31, then customer service and operations assistant of One Satoshi Trading (Hong Kong) Limited (One Satoshi), faces one count 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. He was released on bail, pending his appearance at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts for plea on Friday (October 2).
One Satoshi operates several OTC trading stores in Hong Kong, offering fiat-to-crypto buying and selling services. At the time of the alleged offence, the defendant was an employee at the Sheung Shui branch. Responsible for conducting transactions with customers, the defendant was required to use the company’s cryptocurrency wallet during the process.
The charge alleges that between August and November 2023, the defendant accepted bribes from two men for diverting cryptocurrency transactions of the clients of the store, executing them through cryptocurrency wallets provided by the duo. The defendant was reportedly rewarded HK$200 for each day a transaction was successfully facilitated.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that within the three-month period, the defendant allegedly used the cryptocurrency wallets provided by the two men to secretly conduct multiple transactions with clients of the company. The illicit activities involved cash transactions of over 1.1 million USDT, equivalent to nearly HK$9 million.
One Satoshi rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
A former system engineer of a textile company was charged by the ICAC yesterday (September 28) for allegedly concealing conflicts of interest in the procurement of information technology (IT) products worth about $9 million. He had secretly purchased the goods and resold them to the textile company through different suppliers after marking up prices. A relative of the system engineer was also charged for his role in the scam.
Leung Kam-chiu, 33, former system engineer of the IT department of Pacific Textiles Limited (Pacific Textiles), faces four counts of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance. Leung’s relative, Kong Cheuk-man, 34, sole proprietor of Shengguangheng Trading Co., Limited (Shengguangheng), faces one of the fraud charges.
Both defendants have been released on bail, pending their appearance at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts for mention tomorrow (September 30). The prosecution will later apply to transfer the case to the District Court for plea.
The alleged offences occurred between July 2021 and March 2023. At the time, Leung was responsible for procuring IT products for Pacific Textiles and an affiliated company, assisting his supervisors to identify suitable suppliers and obtaining quotations for supervisors’ approval.
During the period, Leung had handled 48 procurements totalling about $9 million. The charges alleged that Leung had falsely represented that the products were supplied by four suppliers, and with intent to defraud, induced Pacific Textiles and its affiliated company to make payments for the goods. The four companies were OX Technology Limited (OX Technology), Shengguangheng and two other suppliers.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that Leung was the sole operator of OX Technology, while Shengguangheng was operated by his relative, Kong. The two other suppliers were operated by his friends. During the process, Leung had never declared any conflicts of interest to Pacific Textiles. Investigation also revealed that Leung had allegedly purchased the products online, and resold them to Pacific Textiles under the names of the four suppliers after marking up the prices of the goods by six per cent to eight per cent for profit.
Pacific Textiles requires its staff members involved in procurement to declare conflicts of interest in writing. However, Leung had never declared his ownership of OX Technology and that the goods were actually supplied by himself. Pacific Textiles rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The ICAC recommends that private sector organisations formulate clear guidelines and mechanisms for declaring conflicts of interest. Staff members are reminded to avoid conflicts of interest and to make timely declarations to their employers. Employees who conceal any conflicts of interest in relation to their official duties to benefit themselves or their associates may breach the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance or other criminal laws.
A service provider, charged by the ICAC, was convicted today (September 24) at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts of aiding and abetting another person to commit misconduct in public office (MIPO). He had abetted a then assistant manager of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) to divulge confidential tender information, which led to the awarding of an online market platform enhancement project worth over $2.3 million. The then HKTDC assistant manager involved in the case was previously sentenced, following her guilty plea.
Chow Hang-yip, 41, director and shareholder of AF Trinity Technologies Limited (ATTL), was found guilty of one count of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission by another person of the offence of MIPO, contrary to the Common Law and section 89 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance.
Magistrate Mr Kestrel Lam Tsz-hong adjourned the case to October 14 for sentencing and granted Chow bail pending a community service order report.
Co-defendant Leung Sui-ying, then Assistant Business Manager, System & Content Development of the HKTDC, pleaded guilty to one count of MIPO at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on November 21, 2025. She was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.
Between December 2018 and March 2019, the HKTDC conducted an enhancement project for its online market platform – e-Marketplace. Leung was responsible for preparing tender documents and evaluation criteria, as well as identifying service providers. ATTL was one of the service providers invited to bid for the project. It received the highest combined score and was awarded the project, involving payments of over $2.3 million.
Following a corruption complaint, the ICAC launched an investigation and discovered that Chow, a director and shareholder of ATTL, was a friend of Leung. During the bidding process, at the request of Chow, Leung provided him with the contents of tenders submitted by three other service providers, and assisted him in drafting and compiling ATTL’s technical proposal, as well as preparing ATTL’s oral presentation.
The employment contracts and code of conduct of HKTDC staff stipulated that staff members should not disclose any classified information of the HKTDC without authorisation.
The HKTDC rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Stephen Fong, assisted by ICAC officer Gigi Ng.
A former bank manager who admitted taking bribes after being charged by the ICAC was today (September 18) sentenced at the District Court to four years’ imprisonment for conspiring with an employee of a fintech company (the Company) and other associates to accept Tether cryptocurrency worth over US$470,000 in total (approximately HK$3.7 million) to illegally authenticate multiple false instruments as guarantees for various insurance-related investment transactions without the bank’s authorisation.
Lam Chun-yin, 32, former relationship manager of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCB (Asia)), earlier pleaded guilty to one count 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.
In sentencing, Judge Mr Ernest Lin Kam-hung remarked that criminality of the defendant in this case was higher than in other similar cases since it involved forged bank documents that undermined Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial centre and exposed the bank concerned to significant potential risk. The judge took a starting point of six years’ imprisonment and reduced the sentence by one-third due to the defendant’s guilty plea. With no exceptional circumstances warranting further reduction, the defendant was sentenced to four years in prison.
The judge also ordered the defendant to make restitution of approximately HK$3.7 million, equivalent to the amount of the bribes involved, to CCB (Asia).
An ICAC spokesperson noted that the Commission cracked down on the bribery scheme even though corrupt individuals attempted to conceal their corrupt activities by using cryptocurrency to channel bribe payments indirectly. The ICAC had applied to the court for arrest warrants of other individuals implicated in the case.
CCB (Asia) is a subsidiary of China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) in Hong Kong. At the material time, the defendant was a relationship manager of Consumer Banking Division at the Causeway Bay retail branch of CCB (Asia), responsible for providing retail banking services to individual customers. His duties never involved processing any applications for business credit facilities and Letter of Credit (L/C), and the bank had never authorised him to handle such matters.
At the material time, the Company, an overseas fintech firm named Vesttoo Limited (Vesttoo) (currently ceased operations), operated a digital platform to facilitate insurance-related investment transactions. Investors were required to provide standby L/Cs issued by banks as guarantees to ensure that if they could not cover relevant losses, the issuing bank would assume ultimate payment responsibility.
Yu Po Holdings Limited (Yu Po) became an investor via the Company in early 2022. Under arrangements made by a crime syndicate, the defendant falsely represented himself as the contact point of CCB for issuing standby L/Cs for Yu Po.
The defendant admitted that between April and June 2022, he conspired with a department head of the Company and his associates to accept bribes in Tether, worth over US$470,000. In exchange, the defendant authenticated multiple standby L/Cs falsely claiming to be issued by CCB and two collateral letters falsely claiming to be issued by Yu Po and endorsed by CCB, totalling over US$1.6 billion.
The incident was uncovered in an internal investigation by CCB (Asia), after which the bank lodged a corruption complaint with the ICAC and rendered full assistance. The ICAC enquiries revealed that neither CCB nor its sister companies had issued any of the relevant standby L/Cs and collateral letters. These false instruments would have caused potential economic and reputational damage to both CCB and CCB (Asia).
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Douglas Lau, assisted by ICAC officers Cody Chung and Carson Lau.
A former bank manager, charged by the ICAC, admitted today (September 9) at the District Court that he had conspired with an employee of a fintech company (the Company) and associates to accept bribes worth totalling over US$470,000 in cryptocurrency Tether for illegally authenticating multiple false instruments as guarantees for various insurance-related investment transactions without the bank’s authorisation.
Lam Chun-yin, 32, former relationship manager of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCB (Asia)), pleaded guilty to one count 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. Another charge of conspiracy to use false instruments against the defendant was left on the court file.
Judge Mr Ernest Lin Kam-hung adjourned the case to September 18 for sentencing, and remanded the defendant in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
CCB (Asia) is a subsidiary of China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) in Hong Kong. At the material time, the defendant was a relationship manager of Consumer Banking Division at the Causeway Bay retail branch of CCB (Asia), responsible for providing retail banking services to individual customers. His duties never involved processing any applications for business credit facilities and Letter of Credit (L/C), and the bank had never authorised him to handle such matters.
At the material time, the Company, an overseas fintech company Vesttoo Limited (Vesttoo) (ceased operations), was operating a digital platform to facilitate insurance-related investment transactions. Investors were required to provide standby L/Cs issued by banks as guarantees to ensure that, should they be unable to cover relevant losses, the issuing bank would assume ultimate payment responsibility.
Yu Po Holdings Limited (Yu Po) became an investor via the Company in early 2022. Under arrangements made by a crime syndicate, the defendant falsely represented himself as the contact point of CCB for issuing standby L/Cs for Yu Po.
The defendant admitted that between April and June 2022, he conspired with a department head of the Company and his associates to accept bribes in Tether, worth over US$470,000. In exchange, the defendant authenticated multiple standby L/Cs falsely claiming to be issued by CCB and two collateral letters falsely claiming to be issued by Yu Po and endorsed by CCB, totalling over US$1.6 billion.
The incident was uncovered in an internal investigation by CCB (Asia), after which the bank lodged a corruption complaint with the ICAC and rendered full assistance. The ICAC enquiries revealed that neither CCB nor its sister companies had issued any of the relevant standby L/Cs and collateral letters. These false instruments would have caused potential economic and reputational damage to both CCB and CCB (Asia).
An ICAC spokesperson stated that the case involved an individual frontline bank staff member accepting bribes to commit illegal acts. The ICAC had applied to the court for arrest warrants of other individuals implicated in the case. The ICAC has long attached great importance to the integrity of banking practitioners. With the full support of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Hong Kong Association of Banks and the banking industry, the ICAC earlier launched the Banking Industry Integrity Charter to promote an integrity culture within the sector, provide integrity training for bank practitioners to deepen their understanding of relevant anti-corruption law and corruption risks.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Douglas Lau, assisted by ICAC officers Cody Chung and Carson Lau.
