A former China Construction Bank (Asia) customer relationship manager has been sentenced to jail for four years for accepting bribes in crypto form.

He was also ordered to make restitution of about HK3.7 million for accepting over US$ 470,000 via cryptocurrency bribes to ‘falsely authenticate fabricated letters of credit worth over $1.6 billion’, The Standard reported.

Lam Chun-yin, 32, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages at the District Court. He is said to have conspired with a department head from Vesttoo Limited, an overseas fintech firm.

Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung delivered the sentence at the District Court and noted that the scheme involved international dimensions, categorising the misconduct as the most severe of its kind.

The fraudulent operation came to light following an internal investigation by CCB (Asia), and is prosecuted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

A second charge of conspiracy to use false instruments was left on the court file and was not pursued.

Featured image edited by Fintech News Hong Kong based on an image by MrDm on Magnific