A Maltese company charged nearly 200 non-EU nationals more than €100,000 before employing them – and then fired many within months – a Times of Malta investigation can reveal.

Trebee Group, a medical supplier and temping agency based in Santa Venera, hired the workers from South East Asia last year.

But documents show that Trebee received money from the workers through foreign agencies, who paid recruitment company Mulberry Projects Ltd, which is owned by Trebee’s administrator Pierre Buontempo.

Employment regulations ban employers and recruitment companies from charging job applicants for work. The company denies any wrongdoing.

Once employed, several workers claimed they were never paid for sporadic jobs they were given and were sacked by the company’s administrator soon after receiving their residence document.

Mulberry Projects received just over €130,000 from several foreign employment agencies, detailed in 190 receipts seen by Times of Malta...

After Identity Malta (now Identità) issued an approval-in-principle letter, Mulberry charged some €1,000...

Many of those who spoke out about Trebee came to Malta through Abroad Study Plan, an agency in India that charged thousands of euros to non-EU nationals to migrate to Malta....