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.