Couple charged with bribing bank staff with watch for opening account
2019-11-4
A company director and his wife have been charged by the ICAC this (November 4) morning with offering a watch to an employee of a bank for assisting them in opening an account for the company.
Han Xianli, 67, sole director-cum-shareholder of Hongkong Huilin Int’l Finance Group Limited (HIFGL), and Ma Zhenlian, 61, Han’s wife and authorised signer of HIFGL, face a joint charge of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.
The defendants will appear at the Kowloon City Magistracy this afternoon for plea.
At the material time, Han and Ma were respectively sole director-cum-shareholder and authorised signer of HIFGL, which was incorporated in Hong Kong in October 2005 and acquired by Han in May 2019.
The charge alleges that on August 23, 2019, Han and Ma, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, offered a watch to an employee of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) as an inducement to or reward for assisting them in opening a corporate bank account in respect of HIFGL with HSBC.
The employee of HSBC rejected the offer and reported the matter to the management of the bank.
HSBC, which referred a complaint to the ICAC, has rendered full assistance to the Commission during its investigation into the case.
Han Xianli, 67, sole director-cum-shareholder of Hongkong Huilin Int’l Finance Group Limited (HIFGL), and Ma Zhenlian, 61, Han’s wife and authorised signer of HIFGL, face a joint charge of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.
The defendants will appear at the Kowloon City Magistracy this afternoon for plea.
At the material time, Han and Ma were respectively sole director-cum-shareholder and authorised signer of HIFGL, which was incorporated in Hong Kong in October 2005 and acquired by Han in May 2019.
The charge alleges that on August 23, 2019, Han and Ma, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, offered a watch to an employee of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) as an inducement to or reward for assisting them in opening a corporate bank account in respect of HIFGL with HSBC.
The employee of HSBC rejected the offer and reported the matter to the management of the bank.
HSBC, which referred a complaint to the ICAC, has rendered full assistance to the Commission during its investigation into the case.