Banker who ignored 'suspicious' $109b gets one year in jail

A former senior manager of the Po Sang Bank who turned a blind eye when a money lender channelled $109 billion in suspicious funds through his branch was jailed for one year yesterday.

A Court of First Instance jury found Lam Yiu-chung, 48, guilty on Wednesday of accepting an advantage by taking US$10,000 from Chan Chung-ming, 43, a major shareholder of the money-lending company, Guardecade. He was acquitted on a second count. Mr Chan was acquitted of the mirror charge of offering an advantage.

In jailing Lam, Deputy High Court Judge Peter Longley said he knocked six months from the sentence to take into account the defendant's clear record and 'integrity'. The court heard that Lam once returned $40,000 that had been slipped into his pocket by a customer.

Lam's courage was also noted by the judge who made reference to the fact he had been held hostage by a robber who stormed the bank in 1974.

Deputy Judge Longley said Lam had been the senior manager of the Tsim Sha Tsui branch of the Po Sang Bank since 1995 when he asked Mr Chan for US$10,000 around May or June, 2001.

The court heard Lam claimed the request was for an unnamed mainlander who needed funds to gamble in Las Vegas.