A bank employee admitted to accepting bribes from intermediaries to assist clients in opening accounts when prosecuted by the ICAC
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) earlier prosecuted a former bank employee for accepting bribes from intermediaries to assist clients referred by the intermediaries in opening bank accounts. The defendant today (22nd) pleaded guilty at the Eastern Magistrates' Court.
Wan Hui, 32 years old, a former Wealth Management Manager at HSBC, admitted to one count of conspiracy to induce an agent to accept benefits, in violation of Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Magistrate Lam Tsz-hong adjourned the case to March 19 for further mention and granted bail to Wan Hui.
The case revealed that Wan Hui was employed at an HSBC branch in North Point at the time of the offense. She had an agreement with two intermediaries to assist clients referred by them in opening accounts at HSBC, receiving bribes of RMB 500 for each successful account opening. Between October 2024 and February 2025, she assisted 12 clients referred by the two intermediaries in successfully opening bank accounts, receiving a total of RMB 6,000 in bribes. After review, the bank found that four of the accounts posed a money laundering risk and referred the matter to the relevant law enforcement agencies for follow-up.
The four co-defendants in the same case did not respond in court today, and the case was also adjourned to March 19 for further proceedings.
The four include Lu Yingheng, a former Vice President of Financial Planning at HSBC, and Lau Chok-kam, a former Wealth Management Client Manager at HSBC, as well as Han Jie and his wife Zhou Yanying, both insurance brokers and intermediaries. They are collectively charged with three counts, namely two counts of conspiracy to induce an agent to accept benefits and one count of providing benefits to an agent.
HSBC provided full assistance during the ICAC investigation of the case.
The prosecution was represented in court today by ICAC officer Cheung Oi-lam
