Company director jailed for bribing bank staff over inward remittance
2019-8-29
A director of a trading company, charged by the ICAC, was today (August 29) sentenced to three weeks’ imprisonment at the Kowloon City Magistracy after admitting that he had offered a bribe of Renminbi 1,000 to an employee of a bank for expediting the process of handling a remittance of about US$40,000.
Zhong Xiaoping, 36, sole director-cum-shareholder of Bora Commercail Co., Limited (Bora), pleaded guilty to one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.
In sentencing, Acting Principal Magistrate Ms Ada Yim Shun-yee said the bribery offence involved in the case was serious in nature and had put Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial centre at risk.
The acting principal magistrate said she took a starting point of three months’ imprisonment. Having considered his guilty plea and other mitigating factors, the defendant was sentenced to three weeks in jail.
The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was the sole director-cum-shareholder of Bora, a motorcycle accessories trading company which held a corporate bank account with DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (DBS Hong Kong).
On August 9, 2019, an inward remittance of about US$40,000 was sent to DBS Hong Kong and was intended to be deposited into Bora’s account. The remittance was handled by a unit manager of the bank.
On the same day, the defendant sent an email to the unit manager explaining that the sum was remitted from a customer of Bora in Peru and requested the latter to arrange the remittance to be deposited into Bora’s account as soon as possible.
Four days later, the defendant made a call to the customer service hotline of DBS Hong Kong, requesting the bank to expedite the handling of the remittance, the court heard.
On the following day, the defendant asked the unit manager to give priority to the remittance. The defendant also indicated that he would show his gratitude to the unit manager for his assistance, to which the manager did not reply.
A day later, the defendant arranged to transfer Renminbi 1,000 to the unit manager and asked the manager to expedite the handling of the remittance.
The unit manager rejected the offer and reported the matter to the management of DBS Hong Kong. A corruption complaint was then referred to the ICAC. The defendant was arrested by ICAC officers when he visited a branch of DBS Hong Kong on Tuesday (August 27).
DBS Hong Kong had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer William Leung.
Zhong Xiaoping, 36, sole director-cum-shareholder of Bora Commercail Co., Limited (Bora), pleaded guilty to one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.
In sentencing, Acting Principal Magistrate Ms Ada Yim Shun-yee said the bribery offence involved in the case was serious in nature and had put Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial centre at risk.
The acting principal magistrate said she took a starting point of three months’ imprisonment. Having considered his guilty plea and other mitigating factors, the defendant was sentenced to three weeks in jail.
The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was the sole director-cum-shareholder of Bora, a motorcycle accessories trading company which held a corporate bank account with DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (DBS Hong Kong).
On August 9, 2019, an inward remittance of about US$40,000 was sent to DBS Hong Kong and was intended to be deposited into Bora’s account. The remittance was handled by a unit manager of the bank.
On the same day, the defendant sent an email to the unit manager explaining that the sum was remitted from a customer of Bora in Peru and requested the latter to arrange the remittance to be deposited into Bora’s account as soon as possible.
Four days later, the defendant made a call to the customer service hotline of DBS Hong Kong, requesting the bank to expedite the handling of the remittance, the court heard.
On the following day, the defendant asked the unit manager to give priority to the remittance. The defendant also indicated that he would show his gratitude to the unit manager for his assistance, to which the manager did not reply.
A day later, the defendant arranged to transfer Renminbi 1,000 to the unit manager and asked the manager to expedite the handling of the remittance.
The unit manager rejected the offer and reported the matter to the management of DBS Hong Kong. A corruption complaint was then referred to the ICAC. The defendant was arrested by ICAC officers when he visited a branch of DBS Hong Kong on Tuesday (August 27).
DBS Hong Kong had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer William Leung.