Tai Po DC member jailed for $500,000 false claims
2015-4-14
A member of the Tai Po District Council (DC), charged by the ICAC, was today (Tuesday) sentenced to five months’ imprisonment at the Fanling Magistracy for false claims of Operating Expenses Allowance (OEA) and Operating Expenses Reimbursement (OER) totalling about $500,000 from the Tai Po DC Secretariat.
Lo Sou-chour, 60, was earlier found guilty of four counts of fraud, contrary to Section 16A(1) of the Theft Ordinance.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr David Cheung Chi-wai reprimanded the defendant for using his then assistants as a vehicle to make false claims of allowance.
The magistrate added that the starting point of six months in jail was reduced to five months after taking into account his service to the community.
Upon an application from the defendant, the magistrate granted him cash bail of $30,000, pending his appeal against conviction. He was also ordered to surrender his travel documents to the court, not to leave Hong Kong and reside at his reported address.
The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offences.
The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was a member of the Tai Po DC. He was entitled to obtain reimbursement for expenses related to discharging his duties, including the employment of his staff under OER, or known as OEA before January 2011.
As stipulated in the Guidelines on Remuneration Package for Members of the DCs, OER or OEA claims would only be reimbursed on an accountable basis.
Between August 1, 2008 and February 28, 2013, the defendant employed three councillor assistants (CA) and a part-time CA at a monthly salary ranging from ,980 to $8,000.
Prior to paying salaries to those CAs, the defendant asked them to sign on their receipts, the court heard.
The defendant then submitted a total of 94 monthly salary receipts of the CAs to the Tai Po DC Secretariat for reimbursement when the salaries had not been paid to them.
The defendant subsequently received salary reimbursements totalling $494,580. But the defendant defaulted in paying one of the CAs three months of salary totalling $23,200 and the part-time CA five months of salary amounting to $20,000.
Had the Tai Po DC Secretariat known that the defendant had not made the payments for the receipts submitted, it would not have approved the reimbursement claims made by him, the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Samantha Chiu, assisted by ICAC officer Franki Law.
Lo Sou-chour, 60, was earlier found guilty of four counts of fraud, contrary to Section 16A(1) of the Theft Ordinance.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr David Cheung Chi-wai reprimanded the defendant for using his then assistants as a vehicle to make false claims of allowance.
The magistrate added that the starting point of six months in jail was reduced to five months after taking into account his service to the community.
Upon an application from the defendant, the magistrate granted him cash bail of $30,000, pending his appeal against conviction. He was also ordered to surrender his travel documents to the court, not to leave Hong Kong and reside at his reported address.
The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offences.
The court heard that at the material time, the defendant was a member of the Tai Po DC. He was entitled to obtain reimbursement for expenses related to discharging his duties, including the employment of his staff under OER, or known as OEA before January 2011.
As stipulated in the Guidelines on Remuneration Package for Members of the DCs, OER or OEA claims would only be reimbursed on an accountable basis.
Between August 1, 2008 and February 28, 2013, the defendant employed three councillor assistants (CA) and a part-time CA at a monthly salary ranging from ,980 to $8,000.
Prior to paying salaries to those CAs, the defendant asked them to sign on their receipts, the court heard.
The defendant then submitted a total of 94 monthly salary receipts of the CAs to the Tai Po DC Secretariat for reimbursement when the salaries had not been paid to them.
The defendant subsequently received salary reimbursements totalling $494,580. But the defendant defaulted in paying one of the CAs three months of salary totalling $23,200 and the part-time CA five months of salary amounting to $20,000.
Had the Tai Po DC Secretariat known that the defendant had not made the payments for the receipts submitted, it would not have approved the reimbursement claims made by him, the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Samantha Chiu, assisted by ICAC officer Franki Law.