On September 18, a Hong Kong court sentenced former China Construction Bank (Asia) manager Lam Chun-yin to four years in prison. He received over $470,000 in USDT for verifying fake bank documents, according to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
The 32-year-old Lam worked with retail clients at the bank’s Causeway Bay branch. Corporate loans and letters of credit were not part of his responsibilities, and the organization did not authorize him to handle such documents.
Documents Worth $1.6 Billion
From April to June 2022, Lam collaborated with an employee of fintech company Vesttoo and other scheme participants. He posed as a representative of China Construction Bank responsible for issuing standby letters of credit for Yu Po Holdings.
In exchange for payment, the banker confirmed fake standby letters of credit purportedly from CCB and two guarantee letters on behalf of Yu Po. The total nominal value of the documents exceeded $1.6 billion.
According to ICAC materials from June 2025, there were 88 fictitious standby letters of credit. The agency also reported that payments to Lam came from Vesttoo employee Udi Ginati, intermediary Wang Chuk-lung, and others.
Vesttoo managed a platform for insurance-related transactions. Investors provided bank letters of credit as collateral: if they could not meet obligations, the issuing bank assumed responsibility for payment. The company is no longer operational.
The scheme was uncovered during an internal investigation by CCB (Asia). The bank contacted ICAC and assisted in the investigation.
The investigation revealed that neither CCB nor its affiliates issued the mentioned documents.
Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung stated that the fake bank documents “posed a significant potential risk to the organization and damaged Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial center.” He initially set the sentence at six years but reduced it by a third following a guilty plea.
The court also ordered Lam to reimburse CCB (Asia) approximately 3.7 million HKD (around $472,000). ICAC has requested arrest warrants for other individuals involved in the case.
Earlier, in June 2024, two Chinese bankers from Bank of Huludao were charged with laundering $250 million through cryptocurrency.
