BEIJING, Dec. 28 -- The National Audit Office (NAO) on Saturday said some funds set aside for the disadvantaged regions were misused.

An audit was carried out across 19 counties in six provinces and regions, including Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia in April and May. It targeted funds appropriated to the 19 disadvantaged counties from 2010 to 2012.

During the three years, 3.92 billion yuan was injected into the 19 disadvantaged counties and the audit checked 32 percent of it, or 1.24 billion yuan.

It found 234 million yuan was misused through false declaration, embezzlement and waste, said Jiang Xiaohua, an official with the NAO.

A total of 137 people had been investigated as of Thursday, Jiang said.