Mainland businessman slammed by Hong Kong magistrate for offering expensive perfume to HSBC assistant manager
Principal magistrate Peter Law said the accused was introducing a poor culture into Hong Kong and indicated he would not give a lenient sentence
A mainland businessman was slammed by a magistrate for introducing a poor culture into Hong Kong after he admitted bribing an HSBC assistant manager with a bottle of expensive perfume to facilitate his application to open a bank account.
“He thought it was okay to give perfume,” a lawyer for Chen Zhengxi told Kowloon City Court. “The gift-giving culture is not a big deal on the mainland.”
The 44-year-old director of Yangska Holdings (Hong Kong) on Monday asked for a lenient sentence so he could bring the message on the need to abide by the law back to the mainland after he pleaded guilty to one count of offering an advantage to an agent.
He said he committed the act out of foolishness based on a cultural difference and a lack of understanding of the city’s laws.
“He didn’t actually use money in a flagrant way to ask the bank to allow him to submit fewer documents, it was just a gift,” his lawyer said.
But principal magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen rejected the claim and suggested instead that Chen held different values on the need to abide by the law.