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Three women were fined $8,000 to $10,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (March 18) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance. One of them was also sentenced to one month's imprisonment, suspended for six months.
The courts heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected two suspected unlicensed guesthouses in Portland Street and Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok in September last year. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these two guesthouses on a daily basis.
According to OLA's records, these guesthouses did not possess licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. Therefore, the women responsible for operating or 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, 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 fax (fax number: 2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the website (www.hadla.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:35
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