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Four illegal guesthouse managers were charged with contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Court today (August 12). One woman was sentenced to two weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, while the other two women and one man were each fined $8,000.
The courts heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected four suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Nathan Road, Shanghai Street and Portland Street in Mong Kok between December last year and March 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 man and the women responsible for managing the 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 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, August 12, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:15
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