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Three women were fined $8,000 to $10,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (October 15) 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 three suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Cameron Road in Tsim Sha Tsui and Reclamation Street in Mong Kok in March and April this year. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these 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 responsible for managing 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, an 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, October 15, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:15
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