Three then bank employees charged by ICAC with bribery for facilitating the bank account opening for customers referred by insurance agent

Three then bank employees were charged by the ICAC yesterday (July 29) for allegedly accepting bribes to assist customers referred by an insurance agent in opening bank accounts without joining the queue.

Chan Fu-kwan, 32; Mike Chan Wai-pak, 29; and Bernie Yau Kai-lung, 33, all then relationship managers of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), face a total of six bribery charges – five of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages and one of agent accepting advantages, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.

The three defendants were released on bail while their case is scheduled for plea at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (July 31).

At the time of the offences, all three defendants worked at the same branch in Causeway Bay. Their duties included arranging colleagues tasked with processing bank account opening applications to serve customers queuing up at the branch. The trio were not authorised to handle account opening applications themselves.

The charges allege that in 2024, Chan Fu-kwan accepted bribes from an insurance agent, amounting to between $1,000 and $1,200 per customer referred, to facilitate the opening of bank accounts for those customers. It is also alleged that Chan Fu-kwan referred some customers to three HSBC relationship managers, including Mike Chan Wai-pak and Bernie Yau Kai-lung, for assistance in account opening, and offered bribes ranging from $300 to $500 per customer referred to them.

ICAC enquiries revealed that Chan Fu-kwan allegedly accepted over $35,000 in bribes to arrange for customers referred by the insurance agent to undergo bank account opening procedures without queueing up at the branch. He requested assistance from the trio including Mike Chan Wai-pak and Bernie Yau Kai-lung, when he could not handle those customers himself.

The ICAC investigation further revealed that in February 2026, Mike Chan Wai-pak allegedly placed bets totally over $120,000 with a bookmaker via an online platform. He was also charged yesterday with one count of betting with a bookmaker, contrary to section 8 of the Gambling Ordinance.

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