****************************************************
Three women, two men and a company were fined $5,000 to $10,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (September 10) 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 five suspected unlicensed guesthouses in Pei Ho Street in Sham Shui Po, Changsha Street and Argyle Street in Mong Kok, and Nathan Road in Yau Ma Tei and Tsim Sha Tsui from August last year to March this year. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these five guesthouses on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, these guesthouses did not possess licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. Therefore, the women, the men and the company responsible for managing or operating these premises respectively 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 10, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:20
NNNN
