The ICAC has arrested 18 people including telecommunications company staff suspected of involvement in a racket which leaked customers' personal information to loansharks.
Among those picked up were two former and four serving junior staff members of Pacific Century CyberWorks HKT, two serving employees of Hutchison Global Crossing and a contractor attached to Hutchison's offices.
The other nine included eight suspected loansharks and debt collectors - one a former policeman.
The 16 men and two women were arrested in an operation codenamed 'Snow Prints' on Thursday. The Independent Commission Against Corruption said last night that one person had been released on bail, while 17 were being questioned.
The probe was launched after a tip-off and complaints alleging debt collectors had bribed telecommunication firms' staff to obtain subscriber data.
Inquiries revealed that debt collectors had managed to obtain subscribers' particulars from a former HKT employee suspected of having acted as a middleman on their behalf.
