Five former officials of the now-defunct Snow Brand Foods Co. were given suspended two-year prison terms Friday for defrauding the government beef-buyback program introduced after the mad cow disease outbreak last year.

The five had all pleaded guilty in the Kobe District Court to defrauding 196 million yen from the industry body Japan Ham & Sausage Processors Cooperative Association, by repackaging imported beef as domestic to receive government subsidies under the buyback program.

The two-year sentences were suspended for three years. Prosecutors had sought two-year terms for all five, who were arrested May 10 and indicted May 30.

It was the first ruling on a spate of beef-mislabeling scams involving several firms in the meat industry, including Nippon Meat Packers Inc. and Nippon Shokuhin Co.