A Hong Kong court has sentenced former China Construction Bank (Asia) relationship manager Lam Chun-yin to four years in prison after he admitted taking more than $470,000 in USDT bribes between April and June 2022 to certify false banking documents. The District Court, with Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung presiding, also ordered Lam to repay about HK$3.7 million to CCB (Asia), an amount the court said was equivalent to the crypto bribes involved in the case. According to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Lam was working in the personal banking department of CCB (Asia)'s Causeway Bay retail branch at the time and did not have authority to handle commercial lending or letters of credit. ICAC said he conspired with a department head from the Vesttoo platform and others to certify 88 false standby letters of credit and two false letters of guarantee for Yu Po Holdings Limited. The face value of those documents exceeded $1.6 billion. ICAC also said Vesttoo has ceased operations and arrest warrants have been issued for other people tied to the case.

According to a Sina Finance report cited by ChainCatcher, former customer manager Lam Chun-yin of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited admitted to conspiring with an employee of a fintech company and that person’s associates to accept bribes paid in Tether, with a total value exceeding $470,000. The case centers on the illegal certification of multiple false documents without the bank’s authorization, which were used as guarantees for several insurance-related investment transactions. China Construction Bank (Asia) uncovered the matter through an internal investigation, then filed a corruption complaint with Hong Kong’s anti-corruption authorities and provided full assistance. Judge Ernest Lin adjourned the case to Sept. 18 for sentencing, and the defendant remains in custody under the Correctional Services Department in the meantime.