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Managers of unlicensed guesthouse fined
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     ​A man and a woman were charged with contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (August 17). The man was sentenced to four weeks' imprisonment, suspended for a year, and fined $10,000. The woman was fined $3,000.

     The courts heard that in February this year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), the Home Affairs Department, inspected a suspected unlicensed guesthouse in Nelson Street in Mong Kok. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented a room in the guesthouse on a daily basis.

     According to the OLA's records, the guesthouse did not possess a licence under the Ordinance on the day of inspection. The man and the woman 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 by 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, August 17, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:30
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