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Four men and two women were fined $8,000 to $12,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (November 18) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The courts heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department inspected four suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Ki Lung Street in Sham Shui Po, Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, and Hankow Road and Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, from April to June 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. The men and women responsible for operating and managing these guesthouses 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 (www.hadla.gov.hk), or through the mobile application "Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses".
Ends/Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:31
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