Three former bank staff sentenced for bribery over banknotes with special numbers
2006-12-20
Three former employees of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOC Hong Kong), charged by the ICAC, were today (Wednesday) sentenced at Eastern Magistracy for bribery in relation to the retrieval of new banknotes bearing special serial numbers (special banknotes).
Lee Muk-yiu, 46, a former clerk of BOC Hong Kong, received a jail term of 30 weeks, and the court issued an order for the ICAC to return to BOC Hong Kong $139,500 worth of banknotes, which were seized from Lee's home.
Kan Hin-kuen, 34, a former cashier of BOC Hong Kong, and Tsui Tsz-tuen, 45, a former clerk of BOC Hong Kong, were ordered to perform 150 hours and 180 hours of community service respectively.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr William Ng said Lee, who was the main culprit in the case, had breached the trust his employer placed on him, and therefore a custodial sentence was appropriate.
Lee earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (PBO). Kan and Tsui each pleaded guilty to one count of agent accepting an advantage under Section 9(1)(a) o f PBO.
The court heard that at the time of the offences, Lee and Tsui, who were employed by BOC Hong Kong as clerks at the pre-distribution unit of the bank’s vault, were responsible for arranging and distributing banknotes to various branches of the bank, while Kan was a cashier at the Harbour Road branch.
On the instruction of Lee, Kan had, on a number of occasions, made requests for a particular amount of banknotes to be delivered to his branch. Lee would then arrange for banknotes bearing special serial numbers to be packaged in the bundles of banknotes.
When Kan received the ordered banknotes, he would unpack the bundles and replace those special banknotes with ordinary banknotes which Lee had earlier given to him.
After retrieving the special banknotes, Kan handed them to Lee.
The court heard that Lee had offered sums of money, ranging from several ten dollars to one thousand dollars, to Kan as rewards for Kan's assistance. Kan accepted about $5,000 in bribes from Lee.
Lee sold some of the special banknotes in the market at a price much higher than their face value. The total amount of special banknotes obtained through Kan was about $300,000.
The court heard that in order to facilitate the above scheme, Lee also sought the corrupt assistance from Tsui.
In December 2005, Lee, Kan and Tsui were arrested by ICAC officers.
When interviewed under caution by ICAC officers, Lee admitted having offered about $10,000 to Tsui, while Tsui admitted having accepted about $60,000 from Lee.
Subsequent search of Tsui's home recovered $32,770. Tsui confirmed that it was part of the corrupt payments he had received from Lee.
Lee's home was also searched, resulting in the recovery of 527 banknotes totalling $186,570. Lee admitted that 260 of those banknotes, totalling $139,500, were obtained through the assistance of Kan.
BOC Hong Kong prohibits its employees from soliciting or accepting advantages in relation to these circumstances.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Government Counsel Peter Daryanani, assisted by ICAC officer Martin Tse.
Lee Muk-yiu, 46, a former clerk of BOC Hong Kong, received a jail term of 30 weeks, and the court issued an order for the ICAC to return to BOC Hong Kong $139,500 worth of banknotes, which were seized from Lee's home.
Kan Hin-kuen, 34, a former cashier of BOC Hong Kong, and Tsui Tsz-tuen, 45, a former clerk of BOC Hong Kong, were ordered to perform 150 hours and 180 hours of community service respectively.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr William Ng said Lee, who was the main culprit in the case, had breached the trust his employer placed on him, and therefore a custodial sentence was appropriate.
Lee earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (PBO). Kan and Tsui each pleaded guilty to one count of agent accepting an advantage under Section 9(1)(a) o f PBO.
The court heard that at the time of the offences, Lee and Tsui, who were employed by BOC Hong Kong as clerks at the pre-distribution unit of the bank’s vault, were responsible for arranging and distributing banknotes to various branches of the bank, while Kan was a cashier at the Harbour Road branch.
On the instruction of Lee, Kan had, on a number of occasions, made requests for a particular amount of banknotes to be delivered to his branch. Lee would then arrange for banknotes bearing special serial numbers to be packaged in the bundles of banknotes.
When Kan received the ordered banknotes, he would unpack the bundles and replace those special banknotes with ordinary banknotes which Lee had earlier given to him.
After retrieving the special banknotes, Kan handed them to Lee.
The court heard that Lee had offered sums of money, ranging from several ten dollars to one thousand dollars, to Kan as rewards for Kan's assistance. Kan accepted about $5,000 in bribes from Lee.
Lee sold some of the special banknotes in the market at a price much higher than their face value. The total amount of special banknotes obtained through Kan was about $300,000.
The court heard that in order to facilitate the above scheme, Lee also sought the corrupt assistance from Tsui.
In December 2005, Lee, Kan and Tsui were arrested by ICAC officers.
When interviewed under caution by ICAC officers, Lee admitted having offered about $10,000 to Tsui, while Tsui admitted having accepted about $60,000 from Lee.
Subsequent search of Tsui's home recovered $32,770. Tsui confirmed that it was part of the corrupt payments he had received from Lee.
Lee's home was also searched, resulting in the recovery of 527 banknotes totalling $186,570. Lee admitted that 260 of those banknotes, totalling $139,500, were obtained through the assistance of Kan.
BOC Hong Kong prohibits its employees from soliciting or accepting advantages in relation to these circumstances.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Government Counsel Peter Daryanani, assisted by ICAC officer Martin Tse.