13 July 2021
Two foreign domestic helpers were convicted of breaching their conditions of stay by practising dentistry without registration and were sentenced to four months' and two months' imprisonment yesterday (July 12) at Shatin Magistrates' Court.
The Immigration Department (ImmD) received reports earlier that some foreign domestic helpers breached their conditions of stay by providing dental services without registration on Sundays and holidays in a guesthouse. In mid-April this year, ImmD investigators conducted a series of investigation actions and arrested the foreign domestic helpers involved for breaching their conditions of stay by practising dentistry without registration. Relevant exhibits, including some business cards and an account book, were seized from the guesthouse concerned.
According to the investigation findings, the arrested foreign domestic helpers rented a room in a guesthouse on their weekly rest days or holidays and provided dental services for their compatriots there. They have never received any formal dental training and were not registered dentists in Hong Kong.
"A helper should only perform domestic duties for the employer specified in the contract. The helper should not take up any other employment, including part-time domestic duties, with any other person. The employer should not require or allow the helper to carry out any work for any other person. Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him or her shall be guilty of an offence. 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," an ImmD spokesman said.
The spokesman also stressed that, as stipulated in section 25 of the Dentists Registration Ordinance, any person who is not a registered dentist wilfully or falsely pretends to be a dentist shall be guilty of an offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to three years' imprisonment.