Tung Chung rural leaders jailed for stealing river rocks

A rural leader was jailed for two years and fined $10,000 yesterday for stealing more than 800 tonnes of boulders from Tung Chung River for a park next to the Disney site at Penny's Bay two years ago.

A District Court judge warned his act of 'greed' struck at the heart of the rule of law.

Tung Chung Rural Committee chairman Law Kam-fai, 63, and his accomplice, Wong Yat-wah, 51, were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud, one of conspiracy to steal stones, one of removing stones from unleased land and one of unauthorised excavation in unleased land.

Wong was handed a prison term of 20 months and fined $10,000.

Law received 24 months, including a 12-month sentence for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, which the judge said was the most serious.

Li Kwai-mo, 61, vice-chairman of Tung Chung Rural Committee, and secretary of the committee Mok Kwong-ming, 65, were also found guilty of the same charge. They were both sentenced to 11 months.

Law and Wong decided to 'speak in one voice' and provided false oral and written evidence to the police and various government departments following media exposure of their excavation, Deputy Judge Andrew Chan Hing-wai said. With the help of Li and Mok, they convened a committee meeting to instruct some Tung Chung residents to follow their move.