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A man, two women and a company were fined $4,000 to $5,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts and Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts respectively today (September 25) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The courts heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected two suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Jordan Road in Yau Ma Tei and Castle Peak Road in Yuen Long, in March this year. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these two guesthouses on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, these guesthouses did not possess valid certificates of exemption or licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. Therefore, the man, the women and the company responsible for operating or managing these premises were charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is a criminal offence and will lead to a criminal record. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years' imprisonment.
He appealed to the public to report suspected illegal guesthouses to the OLA through the OLA hotline (2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk) or by fax (fax number: 2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the website (www.hadla.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:16
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