FDH, employer charged for illegal Causeway Bay guesthouse

Causeway Bay

A Filipino domestic employer and her male employer were charged with illegal employment after she was caught managing an illegal guesthouse in Causeway Bay.

Pamela S. was charged with two counts of breach of condition of stay and another count of maintaining an unlicensed guesthouse at the Eastern Magistrates Courts in Sai Wan Ho.

“Do not look at (the Filipina domestic worker) like that! It will create some pressure on her,” Eastern Principal Magistrate Peter Law told the male employer when he and his helper appeared side by side before the court on January 7.

The prosecution said Pamela was caught twice managing a guesthouse but the employer insisted that they were not running one.

“There’s no hotel, no guesthouse,” he said.

The male employer pleaded not guilty but Pamela asked for more time to consider her plea. Judge Law adjourned the case to March 4 so that the Filipina defendant can prepare her plea.

Meanwhile, Immigration agents arrested 17 illegal workers and their five suspected employers after they raided a commercial building, a company, a factory, massage parlours, residential buildings, restaurants and a salon, from January 2 to 3.

The illegal workers included 11 men and six women, aged 27 to 55. One of the women was suspected of using a forged Hong Kong identity card. Those who use a fake HKID face a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment of up to 10 years.

“Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration,” an ImmD spokesman said.

“Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years’ imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties,” he added.

The spokesman also warned that illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a deportation order are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business.

Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years’ imprisonment, he added.