Former CCB (Asia) manager sentenced to four years for crypto bribery

Lam Chun-yin, a 32-year-old former relationship manager at China Construction Bank (Asia), has been sentenced to four years in prison for accepting over US$470,000 in Tether (USDT) bribes.

Between April and June 2022, Lam conspired with associates and an employee of a fintech company to authenticate fraudulent standby letters of credit and pledge letters. These fabricated documents, which had a combined face value exceeding $1.6 billion, were used as guarantees for insurance-related investment transactions without the bank's authorization. The scheme involved the fintech platform Vesttoo Limited and an investor entity known as Yu Po Holdings Limited.

Prosecuted by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), the case highlighted the use of stablecoins to conceal illicit payments. Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung noted that the criminality was particularly severe because the forged documents threatened Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial center. In addition to the prison term, the court ordered Lam to pay restitution of approximately HK$3.7 million to CCB (Asia). Active arrest warrants remain outstanding for other individuals connected to the scheme.