A former Senior Relationship Manager of DBS Bank (HK) Limited (DBS), charged by the ICAC, was today (Thursday) convicted at the District Court of accepting bribes totaling $1.3 million from a client on account of handling the latter’s accounts with DBS.

Dicky Kong Tak-lap, 56, was found guilty of three counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).

Deputy Judge Joseph To Ho-shing adjourned the case until May 11 for sentence. The defendant was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.

The court heard that at the material times, the defendant was a Senior Relationship Manager of the Private Banking Department of DBS. He was responsible for handling private banking accounts of clients, including Sit Pan-jit.

In 2004, Sit opened investment accounts with DBS. Since then, Sit had made substantial profits from investing in various products through those accounts after taking the defendant’s advice.

On December 22, 2006, Sit told the defendant that he would give him some “bonus” as he was satisfied with his advice. As a result, Sit gave $500,000 to the defendant.

The court heard that on January 8 and February 12, 2008, the defendant respectively accepted $500,000 and $300,000 in cash from Sit for the same purpose.

DBS prohibited its employees from accepting advantages from their clients in relation to the bank’s business, the court was told.

DBS had rendered full assistance to the ICAC in the investigation.

Sit, 65, was earlier charged by the ICAC with one count of offering advantages to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the POBO. He was found guilty of the charge at the District Court in November 2010, and sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for one year.

The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Bernard Yuen, assisted by ICAC officer Leung Po-shan.