Two directors and a foreman of a road maintenance company have been jailed up to three years for conspiring to defraud the Highways Department on road resurfacing works.

Trinity (Asphalt Surfacing) Engineering Directors Cheuk Wai-hung, 42, and Chan Kwai-wah, 51, each received a jail term of three years, while the company's foreman Chan Shing-yan, 29, was jailed for two years and three months. They were earlier found guilty at District Court of one joint charge of conspiracy to defraud.

The court heard that since 1999, Trinity had been contracted by the department to perform road-resurfacing works throughout Hong Kong. Under the supervision of department staff, core samples were to be obtained from various road-resurfacing sites and delivered to the Government Laboratory for testing in relation to their gravity and compaction.

Between November 1999 and April last year, cored samples fabricated at Trinity's site office were presented to the laboratory for testing, replacing any substandard ones.

In sentencing, Deputy Judge Garry Tallentire reprimanded the defendants for showing no remorse, adding their fraudulent acts, if undetected, might put public safety at risk.