China Construction Bank manager pleads guilty to accepting bribes from Vesttoo employee

The Vesttoo debacle refuses to go away. In a turn of events, the first criminal charges related to the reinsurance letters of credit fraud have finally been confirmed, as a former China Construction Bank employee has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to authenticate false collateral documentation.

Back in June 2025 a Hong Kong bribery case took aim at the former China Construction Bank relationship manager, when the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region charged him with “allegedly conspiring with an employee of a fintech company to use various false standby letters of credit (L/Cs) and collateral letters,” that fintech being Vesttoo.

Chun-Yin Lam (or Lam Chun-Yin) was accused of accepting bribes worth more than US $470,000 through the cryptocurrency Tether from an employee of Vesttoo, named at the time as Udi Ginati.

Recall that, Ginati was cited as an alleged participant in the fraud by Vesttoo itself, after an internal investigation it undertook back in 2023.

Then, in early 2024 an attempt by Vesttoo to recover damages from the former employees it alleged participated in the fraud, which included Ginati, failed in a Tel Aviv court.

Now, Hong Kong’s ICAC has said that Lam admitted to the charge of bribery and receiving the US $470,000 in cryptocurrency payments for illegally authenticating multiple false instruments as guarantees for Vesttoo related insurance investment transactions.

The ICAC notes these actions were taken without the authorisation of China Construction Bank.

The ICAC stated, “Lam Chun-yin, 32, former relationship manager of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCB (Asia)), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. Another charge of conspiracy to use false instruments against the defendant was left on the court file.

“Judge Mr Ernest Lin Kam-hung adjourned the case to September 18 for sentencing, and remanded the defendant in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.”

The ICAC also states that Lam’s duties at CCB “never involved processing any applications for business credit facilities and Letter of Credit (L/C), and the bank had never authorised him to handle such matters.”

Remember that CCB is facing multiple legal actions from insurance and reinsurance market participants over the Vesttoo fraud.

The ICAC also raises Yu Po Holdings Limited, the supposed investor that was either a cover or has never been identified properly in relation to the Vesttoo fraud.

On Lam’s relationship with the investor, the ICAC says, “Under arrangements made by a crime syndicate, the defendant falsely represented himself as the contact point of CCB for issuing standby L/Cs for Yu Po.”

Precisely who that “crime syndicate” is, is not explained. It could be simply how the ICAC refers to those involved in the Vesttoo fraud.

The ICAC further stated on Lam, “The defendant admitted that between April and June 2022, he conspired with a department head of the Company and his associates to accept bribes in Tether, worth over US$470,000. In exchange, the defendant authenticated multiple standby L/Cs falsely claiming to be issued by CCB and two collateral letters falsely claiming to be issued by Yu Po and endorsed by CCB, totalling over US$1.6 billion.

“The incident was uncovered in an internal investigation by CCB (Asia), after which the bank lodged a corruption complaint with the ICAC and rendered full assistance. The ICAC enquiries revealed that neither CCB nor its sister companies had issued any of the relevant standby L/Cs and collateral letters. These false instruments would have caused potential economic and reputational damage to both CCB and CCB (Asia).”

Of course, Lam’s existence was actually revealed during the Vesttoo bankruptcy case in emails submitted to the court, long before the corruption case in Hong Kong.

The ICAC said it has also “applied to the court for arrest warrants of other individuals implicated in the case.”

When this bribery case was initially revealed, another bank employee from Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited had also been facing a count of conspiracy to use false instruments, while another middleman was also named, but there’s been no update on whether those charges are progressing still.

While it’s encouraging to learn of the first true criminal charges related to the Vesttoo fraud saga, none of this helps those in the insurance and reinsurance industry that were together hundreds of millions of dollars out of pocket thanks to the crime. Nor does it bring us any closer to those behind the Vesttoo fraud facing criminal charges of their own.

But it does confirm some of the earlier information that had been slowly revealed through the bankruptcy case and legal discovery, so it may help some that continue to pursue remedies to re-focus their efforts to recover some of their losses.

Read all of our coverage of the alleged fraudulent or forged letter-of-credit (LOC) collateral linked to Vesttoo deals.