Ex-bank manager gets four years’ jail for accepting bribes worth US$470,000 in cryptocurrency to authenticate false standby L/Cs
2026-9-18
A former bank manager who admitted taking bribes after being charged by the ICAC was today (September 18) sentenced at the District Court to four years’ imprisonment for conspiring with an employee of a fintech company (the Company) and other associates to accept Tether cryptocurrency worth over US$470,000 in total (approximately HK$3.7 million) to illegally authenticate multiple false instruments as guarantees for various insurance-related investment transactions without the bank’s authorisation.
Lam Chun-yin, 32, former relationship manager of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCB (Asia)), earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
In sentencing, Judge Mr Ernest Lin Kam-hung remarked that criminality of the defendant in this case was higher than in other similar cases since it involved forged bank documents that undermined Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial centre and exposed the bank concerned to significant potential risk. The judge took a starting point of six years’ imprisonment and reduced the sentence by one-third due to the defendant’s guilty plea. With no exceptional circumstances warranting further reduction, the defendant was sentenced to four years in prison.
The judge also ordered the defendant to make restitution of approximately HK$3.7 million, equivalent to the amount of the bribes involved, to CCB (Asia).
An ICAC spokesperson noted that the Commission cracked down on the bribery scheme even though corrupt individuals attempted to conceal their corrupt activities by using cryptocurrency to channel bribe payments indirectly. The ICAC had applied to the court for arrest warrants of other individuals implicated in the case.
CCB (Asia) is a subsidiary of China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) in Hong Kong. At the material time, the defendant was a relationship manager of Consumer Banking Division at the Causeway Bay retail branch of CCB (Asia), responsible for providing retail banking services to individual customers. His duties never involved processing any applications for business credit facilities and Letter of Credit (L/C), and the bank had never authorised him to handle such matters.
At the material time, the Company, an overseas fintech firm named Vesttoo Limited (Vesttoo) (currently ceased operations), operated a digital platform to facilitate insurance-related investment transactions. Investors were required to provide standby L/Cs issued by banks as guarantees to ensure that if they could not cover relevant losses, the issuing bank would assume ultimate payment responsibility.
Yu Po Holdings Limited (Yu Po) became an investor via the Company in early 2022. Under arrangements made by a crime syndicate, the defendant falsely represented himself as the contact point of CCB for issuing standby L/Cs for Yu Po.
The defendant admitted that between April and June 2022, he conspired with a department head of the Company and his associates to accept bribes in Tether, worth over US$470,000. In exchange, the defendant authenticated multiple standby L/Cs falsely claiming to be issued by CCB and two collateral letters falsely claiming to be issued by Yu Po and endorsed by CCB, totalling over US$1.6 billion.
The incident was uncovered in an internal investigation by CCB (Asia), after which the bank lodged a corruption complaint with the ICAC and rendered full assistance. The ICAC enquiries revealed that neither CCB nor its sister companies had issued any of the relevant standby L/Cs and collateral letters. These false instruments would have caused potential economic and reputational damage to both CCB and CCB (Asia).
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Douglas Lau, assisted by ICAC officers Cody Chung and Carson Lau.
Lam Chun-yin, 32, former relationship manager of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCB (Asia)), earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
In sentencing, Judge Mr Ernest Lin Kam-hung remarked that criminality of the defendant in this case was higher than in other similar cases since it involved forged bank documents that undermined Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial centre and exposed the bank concerned to significant potential risk. The judge took a starting point of six years’ imprisonment and reduced the sentence by one-third due to the defendant’s guilty plea. With no exceptional circumstances warranting further reduction, the defendant was sentenced to four years in prison.
The judge also ordered the defendant to make restitution of approximately HK$3.7 million, equivalent to the amount of the bribes involved, to CCB (Asia).
An ICAC spokesperson noted that the Commission cracked down on the bribery scheme even though corrupt individuals attempted to conceal their corrupt activities by using cryptocurrency to channel bribe payments indirectly. The ICAC had applied to the court for arrest warrants of other individuals implicated in the case.
CCB (Asia) is a subsidiary of China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) in Hong Kong. At the material time, the defendant was a relationship manager of Consumer Banking Division at the Causeway Bay retail branch of CCB (Asia), responsible for providing retail banking services to individual customers. His duties never involved processing any applications for business credit facilities and Letter of Credit (L/C), and the bank had never authorised him to handle such matters.
At the material time, the Company, an overseas fintech firm named Vesttoo Limited (Vesttoo) (currently ceased operations), operated a digital platform to facilitate insurance-related investment transactions. Investors were required to provide standby L/Cs issued by banks as guarantees to ensure that if they could not cover relevant losses, the issuing bank would assume ultimate payment responsibility.
Yu Po Holdings Limited (Yu Po) became an investor via the Company in early 2022. Under arrangements made by a crime syndicate, the defendant falsely represented himself as the contact point of CCB for issuing standby L/Cs for Yu Po.
The defendant admitted that between April and June 2022, he conspired with a department head of the Company and his associates to accept bribes in Tether, worth over US$470,000. In exchange, the defendant authenticated multiple standby L/Cs falsely claiming to be issued by CCB and two collateral letters falsely claiming to be issued by Yu Po and endorsed by CCB, totalling over US$1.6 billion.
The incident was uncovered in an internal investigation by CCB (Asia), after which the bank lodged a corruption complaint with the ICAC and rendered full assistance. The ICAC enquiries revealed that neither CCB nor its sister companies had issued any of the relevant standby L/Cs and collateral letters. These false instruments would have caused potential economic and reputational damage to both CCB and CCB (Asia).
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Douglas Lau, assisted by ICAC officers Cody Chung and Carson Lau.