Sham Shui Po district councillor Leung Hon-wa and two other people have been sentenced to jail terms of up to four months at North Kowloon Magistrates' Courts for making false claims for reimbursement of expenses totalling about $226,000 from the council and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

Leung Hon-wa, 42, also chairman of the China Youth Services and Recreation Centre, received a jail term of three months.

Centre secretary Tse Yee-fong, 48, and treasurer Jimmy Kong Wing-hong, 43, were each sentenced to four months' jail.

The trio, together with co-defendant, centre vice-chairman Chan Tze-yui, 34, earlier pleaded guilty to seven offences under the Theft Ordinance - one count of conspiracy to furnish false information and six of furnishing false information.

Chan today applied for a reversal of his guilty plea. His application will be heard on January 24.

Offences serious and well planned

In meting out the custodial sentences to the other three defendants, Magistrate Albert Wong said the offences were serious, well planned and were committed over a long period of time.

He also reprimanded the defendants for having adversely affected the allocation of public funds.

The court heard Leung, Tse and Kong, in furnishing information for applications for reimbursement of expenses incurred at 12 activities organised by the centre, had conspired together to dishonestly produce to the district council false or inflated invoices, receipts and cash memoranda.

Chan was allegedly a co-conspirator in the scam.

The court heard Kong had also dishonestly produced to the district council a number of receipts and cash memoranda which to his knowledge were false, and had furnished false information to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department for applications for reimbursement of expenses incurred at two other activities organised by the centre.

The court also heard Tse had furnished false information to the then chairman of the United Association of Nam Cheong Middle West District and the district council for applications for reimbursement of expenses incurred at three activities organised by the association.