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A man, two women and a registered society were today (March 18) fined by the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts and Tsuen Wan Magistrates' Courts for contravening the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance in four separate cases.
The Magistrates' Courts heard that the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of Home Affairs Department last September and October inspected four clubhouses which had been operating with a certificate of compliance (CoC). The clubhouses were in Yau Ma Tei, To Kwa Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsim Sha Tsui. During the investigations, OLA officers, posing as customers, patronised the clubhouses without being asked to show their membership status or invited to join the club as members. This breached Condition of CoC.
The layout of the To Kwa Wan clubhouse deviated from the registered drawing and with additional tables and chairs. This also breached a condition stated in the CoC.
The female operator of the clubhouse in Yau Ma Tei, the male manager of the clubhouse in To Kwa Wan, the registered society operating the clubhouse in Kwai Chung, and the female operator of the clubhouse in Tsim Sha Tsui were all charged with contravening the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance and were fined $2,000, $3,000, $1,200, and $2,000 respectively.
A spokesman for the department said robust enforcement action would continue to be taken against illegal clubhouse operations.
Ends/Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:01
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