North District Council Chairman Li Kwok-fung has admitted making false rental expense claims of $129,000 from the Government.

Fanling Magistrate William Ng adjourned sentencing, pending the trial of a co-defendant. Li was granted $2,000 bail.

The offence took place between January 2000 and May 2002. Li was Fanling District Rural Committe Chairman and a North District Councillor. He was elected the council's chairman in January 2004.

Li submitted a rental agreement to the council's secretariat, purporting that he had rented half of the first floor of the rural committee's building as his District Councillor ward office for $5,000 per month.

Li then submitted a total of 29 rental receipts, falsely representing that he had incurred rental expenses totalling $145,000. As a result, the council's secretariat was misled into issuing reimbursements to Li totalling $129,027. Investigations found the rural committee had not leased the premises to Li, nor had it received any rent from him.

The court heard that Li instructed his assistants to prepare the false rental receipts, which were signed by himself in his capacity as the committee's chairman.