Hong Kong - The former managing director of McDonald's in Hong Kong was jailed for four years and five months Wednesday for accepting 330,000 US dollars in bribes from a food supplier.

   Joseph Lau Si-sing, 48, was sentencing after being found guilty at a court hearing in April of taking bribes and conspiring to obstruct justice by asking the supplier to lie to investigators.

   He was also ordered to pay the supplier 2.3 million Hong Kong dollars (300,000 US dollars) in compensation.

   Lau, who joined fast-food chain in Hong Kong in 2004, added more fruit and vegetables to the McDonald's menu and ordered corn from a Thai supplier whom he knew from a previous job.

   In 2005, he asked the supplier to kick back 10 per cent of the value of the orders McDonald's placed and received 330,000 US dollars in payments over the next two years.

   When anti-corruption investigators began a probe, Lau told the supplier to tell them he had given the money for a joint property investment in China.

   In sentencing Lau, Deputy District Court Judge Johnny Chan called it a serious case of corruption and said Lau had abused his position and breached the trust of his employer.

   A spokesman for McDonald's Hong Kong welcomed the sentence.

   "We really appreciate the judgement of the court today. He recognized the damage that was done to McDonald's by the corrupt action of a person who abused their position," the spokesman told government-run radio station RTHK.