Nine former employees of seven financial institutions have been arrested for allegedly conducting unauthorised checks on customer data for a debt collection syndicate.

They are former Citibank (Hong Kong) fraud prevention executive Tse Yat-hoi, 32; former Citic Ka Wah Bank credit control manager Au Yeung Chuen, 42; former Hang Seng Bank senior clerk Sum Po-yin, 32; former DBS Bank (Hong Kong) collection assistant Man Kei-yui, 37; former Bank of China (Hong Kong) client service representative Chin Chi-wai, 33; former AIG Credit Card Company (Hong Kong) credit control representative Chan Chi-kwong, 36; former Wing Hang Credit junior clerk Ho Chui-yee, 24; and former Wing Hang Credit branch manager Henry Lee, 39, and assistant branch manager Phoebe Leung, 26.

They will appear at Kowloon City Magistracy tomorrow in eight separate cases. They were arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption last year.

Tse, Au, Sum, Man, Chin, Chan and Ho each face one count of conspiring with others to obtain access to a computer belonging to their respective employer, to dishonestly gain for themselves or another, whether on the same occasion they obtained such access or on any future occasion.

In a separate case, Lee and Leung face a similar joint charge, while Lee further faces another similar charge.

The alleged offences occurred between October 2001 and August 2005.