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.

Each receipt contained a name, surname, and, occasionally, the job they were to be given.

Every applicant also had a unique code that included the letters ‘TB’ followed by a number. Sources confirmed that TB referred to Trebee.

The majority of receipts were for €800, with the rest ranging from €100 to €1,000.

Mulberry Projects is unrelated to Mulberry Insurance and Mulberry Properties, companies that share a name but have different shareholders and directors.

How the scheme worked

Sources close to employment agencies in Asia explained how Trebee was paid. 

First, third-country nationals paid agencies in their own country between €5,000 and €6,000. 

The foreign agencies then paid Mulberry projects between €2,000 and €2,500 in three instalments as the would-be workers’ employment procedure with Trebee progressed. 

Through Mulberry, Trebee charged a first instalment of €800, which was paid to begin the work permit process.

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

And once a candidate had his visa to fly to Malta, the Maltese company charged them around €500. 

Times of Malta spoke to six people who arrived in Malta and were given work permits with Trebee. 

Workers speak out

Among them, 26-year-old Sravan Avulaa was sent on several odd jobs by Trebee but said he was never paid “a single cent”. 

He had been living in Dubai, earning some €8,000 per year with expenses covered by his company, before moving to Malta for a job he was told would pay €2,000 a month. 

Once he arrived in Malta, with Trebee registered as his employer, Avulaa said he was given a series of sporadic jobs such as food-courier-delivery driver, sanding boats and road construction. 

“I didn’t receive a single cent from Buontempo, and when I asked for money, he revoked my card,” he said. 

Others similarly said they never received any payment from Trebee Group and were disengaged from their work soon after receiving their work permit. 

One man said it was challenging to survive as he spent months without a salary. 

Another who received his work permit in December was not given any job and had no contact with the company until January when Buontempo asked for €1,000. 

“They said they would revoke my work permit if I did not give them the money,” he said. 

After he refused, they terminated his employment.

He was unaware he had been terminated until months later, meaning he was living illegally in Malta without his knowledge.

Times of Malta understands that Trebee systematically fired many of its employees within the first few months of their employment. 

Sources from Maltese immigration and employment authorities said that both Trebee and Mulberry Projects are “known”. 

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.

Last year, several also worked at the Ta’ Xbiex Christmas Village, which was in the headlines recently after several workers were never paid for their hundreds of hours’ worth of work.  

Company denies wrongdoing

When contacted, Buontempo said that any amounts received by Trebee and Mulberry “were in accordance to law, agreements reached and the works executed. 

“The company never collected €2,000 for the full process; however, we adopted a three-instalment payment in the three phases of the process,” Buontempo said. 

He said fees charged by Trebee and Mulberry covered government application fees, administration fees, attestation fees, courier postage fees, medical screening, health insurance, telephone cards, and transportation cards. 

Trebee also covers the “amount needed to financially support the candidate until the ID card is issued and registered with Jobsplus, which can easily take up to eight weeks. The candidate is fully supported by the company throughout these phases until he/she is employed,” he said.    

Asked about workers who were fired soon after they were hired, given sporadic work they were never paid for, and disengaged without their knowledge, Buontempo said he could not comment without knowing the identity of these candidates. 

“It is difficult for us to clarify because every case is different and treated on its own merit,” he said. 

“In our records, all candidates that we engaged through Jobsplus were paid their wages as per their employment contract,” Buontempo said.

He said the company employed anyone who got their document through Trebee. 

“It does not make any financial sense for us to terminate any employees that are working for our clients without any disciplinary reason or any breach of contract,” he said. 

Buontempo said his company severed all ties with Abroad Study Plan the moment it learnt it was not a genuine agency and was part of a fraudulent racket. 

Maggot therapy and threats

Buontempo has a colourful history. In 2015, a court heard how the then-salesman claimed to be a consultant and administered maggot therapy to patients at Mater Dei Hospital. However, he was cleared of misappropriation and fraud on lack of evidence. 

Last year, Lovin Malta reported how Buontempo assaulted and threatened to throw his tenants out on the streets and out of the country after one of the men planned to leave his job with Trebee. 

According to the Malta Business Registry, the owner of Trebee is Albert Buttigieg, an opera singer. 

When contacted for comment, he redirected Times of Malta to Pierre Buontempo. 

“I believe that the best way forward is to follow this through formal channels,” he said. 

What does the law state?

Replying to questions, a spokesperson for the Social Dialogue secretariat said that current regulations state that no payment or charges shall be levied on any applicant for employment. 

This applies both to recruitment and temping services, the spokesperson said.

“Current regulations also state that no payment or charges shall be levied on any applicant for employment in consideration of such employment or in consideration of registration thereof, both for recruitment and temping services.

“The law further stipulates that no deductions shall be made from the wages of any employee for any services rendered by an agency,” the spokesperson said.

A new law, published and tabled to parliament in November, goes a step further, she said. 

If an employment agency or any other person responsible for the running of the employment agency charges any fees or demands any payment from applicants for employment, it shall be guilty of an offence which may lead to the refusal or revocation of the licence of the said agency, she said. 

“Furthermore, Maltese agencies are obliged not to do business with foreign agencies who charge any fees or demand any payment from applicants for employment.

“Should the director, competent person or any other person responsible for the running of the agency become aware of such fees and still conducts business with the foreign agency, it may lead to the refusal or revocation of the licence of the Maltese agency,” the spokesperson added.