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Two women and a man were fined from $8,000 to $12,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (July 22) 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 guesthouse at Shanghai Street in Mong Kok and Wan Chai Road in Wan Chai in January and February this year. The OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these guesthouses on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, the guesthouses did not possess licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. Therefore, the man and the women responsible for managing the 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 anyone with information about suspected unlicensed guesthouses to report it to the OLA through the hotline (Tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the OLA website, or through the mobile application "Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses".
Ends/Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:45
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