Man jailed for bribing bank staff in opening account
2019-5-14
A man, charged by the ICAC, was today (May 14) sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment at the Eastern Magistracy after admitting that he had offered a bribe to an employee of a bank for assisting him in opening an account for his company.
Li Xiangmin, 50, a Mainland resident and sole director-cum-shareholder of Hongkong Yan Civil Trade Limited By Share Limited, pleaded guilty to a charge of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.
In sentencing, Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen stressed that Hong Kong had experienced the dark age of corruption. After years of efforts, the probity situation in Hong Kong had improved.
The principal magistrate said as probity was a core value of Hong Kong, no one was allowed to undermine it. He meted out a deterrent custodial sentence to the defendant so as to reflect the seriousness of his case.
The principal magistrate also said he reduced the starting point of 12 months in jail to eight months after taking into account the defendant’s guilty plea.
The court heard that on July 27, 2018, the defendant visited the main office branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) for resetting the personal identification number (PIN) of his personal account.
When a counter service officer of HSBC was resetting the PIN for the defendant, he requested to open a corporate account with the bank.
The counter service officer told the defendant to seek assistance from other staff members of HSBC as she was not responsible for assisting clients in opening corporate accounts.
The court heard that the defendant showed the counter service officer his mobile phone, which displayed a text message that he would give the officer money if she could assist him in opening a corporate account.
The counter service officer rejected the defendant’s offer immediately. After the defendant left the branch, she reported the matter to her supervisor.
Upon receipt of a corruption complaint referred by HSBC, ICAC officers started an investigation. The defendant was arrested on April 13, 2019 for allegedly committing the bribery offence, the court was told.
HSBC had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Seth Yiu.
Li Xiangmin, 50, a Mainland resident and sole director-cum-shareholder of Hongkong Yan Civil Trade Limited By Share Limited, pleaded guilty to a charge of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.
In sentencing, Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen stressed that Hong Kong had experienced the dark age of corruption. After years of efforts, the probity situation in Hong Kong had improved.
The principal magistrate said as probity was a core value of Hong Kong, no one was allowed to undermine it. He meted out a deterrent custodial sentence to the defendant so as to reflect the seriousness of his case.
The principal magistrate also said he reduced the starting point of 12 months in jail to eight months after taking into account the defendant’s guilty plea.
The court heard that on July 27, 2018, the defendant visited the main office branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) for resetting the personal identification number (PIN) of his personal account.
When a counter service officer of HSBC was resetting the PIN for the defendant, he requested to open a corporate account with the bank.
The counter service officer told the defendant to seek assistance from other staff members of HSBC as she was not responsible for assisting clients in opening corporate accounts.
The court heard that the defendant showed the counter service officer his mobile phone, which displayed a text message that he would give the officer money if she could assist him in opening a corporate account.
The counter service officer rejected the defendant’s offer immediately. After the defendant left the branch, she reported the matter to her supervisor.
Upon receipt of a corruption complaint referred by HSBC, ICAC officers started an investigation. The defendant was arrested on April 13, 2019 for allegedly committing the bribery offence, the court was told.
HSBC had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Seth Yiu.