1 February 2013
A company that employed three illegal workers was fined $72,000 at Shatin Magistrates' Courts yesterday (January 31).
During an anti-illegal worker operation mounted on August 23, 2012, immigration officers intercepted three illegal workers who were found washing dishes at the kitchen of a restaurant. The three illegal workers were charged with breaching conditions of stay and the restaurant was charged with three counts of employing a person not lawfully employable. The restaurant was fined $24,000 for each count, making a total fine of $72,000.
"It is an offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years," an Immigration Department spokesman said.
The spokesman also stressed that any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for two years.