WESTERN BUREAU — The Kingston fraud squad has taken the owner of the Montego Bay-based technology company, Softcom Limited, into police custody and he is expected to be transferred to the western city, over the weekend, where he will be charged.

According to police sources, he was apprehended at a hotel in the capital.

Roughly 300 employees of the company that began operations less than a month ago, demonstrated in front of its Church Street offices on Tuesday, alleging that they have been fleeced of over $1 million dollars.

Softcom began operations in early April with a skeleton staff but by the end of the month it had employed close to 500 persons. Some workers told the Observer that they were promised as much as $60,000 per month after statutory deductions while others were told that they could earn a minimum of $7,000 weekly.

But before they could be employed, each person had to pay the company $3,025 towards the purchase of uniforms, which they claimed they never received.

The employees’ jobs included data entry, computer graphics and telemarketing, as well as the sale of insurance to the members of the public.

According to some workers, weekly and fortnightly cheques collected last week were all dishonoured by the bank. A number of business places in Montego Bay were also reportedly fleeced, as they are still owed for goods and services delivered.

One employee told the Observer that nearly two weeks ago she resigned her job at a company located in the Montego Bay Free Zone, where she had worked for three years and went to work at Softcom.

“I really wanted to work some more money, so I joined up with Softcom and now I am out of a job and I have lost my money,” she lamented.

Softcom Ltd’s assistant office manager, Jacqueline Murray, who was part of the company’s recruiting team, told the Observer that it was not until last Friday that she became suspicious of her boss’ actions.

“He told us that he had an office in Kingston and we told him that we wanted to make contact with that office, but he always put us off. It was after this, that we learnt that the company was not for real,” Murray explained.

On Thursday, Montego Bay cops were tightlipped about the alleged fraud.

“We are still continuing our investigations into the matter at this time,” an officer at the fraud squad told the Observer. “It is a very sensitive matter and we can’t say much now. We can’t even tell you how much money is involved.”