LOOKING for love, the single men signed up hoping to find the perfect partner. Instead, TLC - True Love Corp - exploited their vulnerability, pressuring them to pay exorbitant sums to meet women who, in some cases, may not have existed, a court has heard.

A New Zealand man who had lost his wife to cancer paid more than $683,000, believing a woman named Angie wanted to marry him. He came to Australia for their wedding but she phoned to say she was flying to America, where her daughter had been in a car crash.

Deeply in debt, the man had to sell his home, his car, his shares and cash in his superannuation. When he phoned TLC for a refund, a woman identifying herself as Hollie Veall, the director of TLC, answered. He recognised her voice as that of ''Angie'', the NSW Supreme Court heard.

The NSW Department of Fair Trading took action against Ms Veall and Zivko Dimitrijevski, another former director, over alleged fair trading and trade practices breaches.

The pair did not attend court to defend the case, which proceeded without them before Justice Terence Buddin.