WESTERN BUREAU — Horace Haughton, the owner of the beleaguered Montego Bay-based firm Softcom Limited, will appear in the city’s Resident Magistrate’s Court tomorrow to answer fraud charges.

Haughton, who allegedly fleeced employees of more than $1 million, was taken into custody by the Kingston Fraud Squad last week.

He was brought to Montego Bay on the weekend and was on Monday charged with receiving goods and services by fraud.

Last Tuesday, more than 300 employees of the company, which began operating in April, demonstrated in front of its Church Street offices, alleging that Haughton had fleeced them of their money.

Some told the Observer that they were hired with promises of as much as $60,000 per month after statutory deductions while others were told that they could earn up to $7,000 weekly.

But before they could be employed, they said, 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 members of the public.

It is also alleged that Haughton obtained computers and other office supplies on credit from business places and paid with cheques that were later dishonoured by the bank.

His employees also claimed that their salary cheques were also dishonoured.

After last week’s protest, the police had launched an appeal for Softcom’s employees and creditors to come forward with information that would help the case.

But sources close to the investigation told the Observer Tuesday that the fraud squad has expressed disappointment at the small number of persons who have so far come forward to give information about Softcom.