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A woman and a company were each fined $1,100 today (August 12) for contravening the conditions of the Certificate of Compliance (CoC) as required under Section 21 of the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance.
The Eastern Magistrates' Court heard that a clubhouse in Foo Ming Street, Causeway Bay, had been operating with a CoC under the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance since June last year. The Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department found that the clubhouse served non-members in December last year, and the OLA subsequently issued a warning letter.
In January this year, officers of the OLA, posing as customers, patronised the clubhouse for food and drink without being asked to show their membership status or invited to join the club as members. The woman, who was the holder of the CoC, and the company, which was the operator of the clubhouse, were found to be in contravention of special condition 1 of the CoC, and subsequently charged with contravening section 21 of the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance.
A spokesman for the department said robust enforcement action would continue to be taken against illegal clubhouse operations.
Ends/Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:01
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