A former China Construction Bank (Asia) relationship manager was sentenced to four years in prison for accepting more than US$470,000 in Tether (USDT) bribes to authenticate fraudulent bank documents, Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said in a September 18 press release.
The Bribery Scheme
Lam Chun-yin, 32, a former relationship manager in the Consumer Banking Division at CCB (Asia)’s Causeway Bay retail branch, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages under section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. CCB (Asia) is the Hong Kong subsidiary of China Construction Bank Corporation. His duties involved retail banking services and never included processing applications for business credit facilities. According to the ICAC, Lam conspired with an employee of a fintech company and other associates to receive Tether worth more than US$470,000, about HK$3.7 million, to illegally authenticate multiple false standby letters of credit. Those instruments were then used as guarantees for insurance-related investment transactions without the bank’s authorization.
The Sentence
At the District Court, Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung said the criminality was higher than in comparable cases because the forged documents undermined Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial center and exposed the bank to significant potential risk. The judge adopted a six-year starting point and reduced it by one-third for Lam’s guilty plea, producing the four-year term. He also ordered restitution of about HK$3.7 million to CCB (Asia), matching the amount of the bribes the defendant received.
Cryptocurrency Used to Conceal Payments
An ICAC spokesperson noted the commission cracked down on the scheme even though those involved attempted to conceal corrupt activities by using cryptocurrency to channel bribe payments indirectly. The agency has also applied to the court for arrest warrants for other individuals implicated in the case, signaling that the investigation remains open beyond Lam’s conviction.
Wider Crackdown on Crypto-Fueled Corruption
The sentencing adds to a growing list of enforcement actions tied to digital-asset payments, including a South Korean exchange employee jailed for Bitcoin bribery and a cross-border crypto money laundering bust involving arrests in the UAE and Sweden. Authorities in Hong Kong have made clear that moving bribes through stablecoins such as USDT does not shield the underlying transactions from scrutiny.
