SINGAPORE - Two Singaporeans allegedly duped hundreds of foreigners into paying a "plethora of fees" to secure jobs that did not exist, a district court heard on Monday (Aug 27).

Clarence Lim Jun Yao, 30 and Terry Tan-Soo I-Hse, 40, were the directors and sole shareholders of three firms: Lim headed Asia Job Mart and UUBR International while Tan-Soo headed Asia Recruit (AR).

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Tan did not disclose the number of foreign jobseekers and the total amount involved. Each man is now on trial on three counts of carrying out the business of the firms for fraudulent purposes.

Lim and Tan-Soo face a total of 315 charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. These counts have been stood down for now.

The 121 charges under the Employment Agencies Act levelled at Tan-Soo have also been stood down. All of these 436 charges will be dealt with at a later date.

Mr Tan told District Judge John Ng that the two men perpetrated a "massive, audacious and cruel fraud" against hundreds of foreigners searching for jobs in Singapore.

"The accused placed hundreds of fraudulent advertisements on platforms such as the Straits Times' online jobs portal, falsely promising the availability of immediate job vacancies, for all nationalities, in numerous industries and positions," he said.

"Using the reach of these platforms, they baited and ensnared victim after victim, who they then deceived into paying a plethora of fees, including 'administrative', 'reservation', and 'training' - in order to secure non-existent 'jobs'."

The court heard that Asia Recruit allegedly masqueraded as an employment agency.

Mr Tan said: "When its victims came to it in hopes of finding a job, AR purported to be able to assist them with doing so, and charged them a fee. A short while later, AR would contact the victim, informing that AR had been able to secure a job for him or her."

The court heard that in many cases, the purported employer was Asia Job Mart. Howeverthe firm had no genuine intention to hire the jobseekers.

In other instances, jobseekers who approached Asia Recruit were allegedly told to fork out cash, usually up to $390, to have their resumes purportedly uploaded onto an online portal run by Asia Job Mart for employers to view.

Soon after, UUBR would allegedly contact the jobseeker, purporting to be interested in hiring him or her.

Mr Tan said: "The jobseeker would be invited to attend an 'interview' which, unknown to him or her, was little more than a charade, following which the jobseeker would be offered employment at UUBR.

"The jobseeker would then be asked to pay a fee of $180, either as a 'reservation fee' or something similar.

"In addition, the jobseeker was required to attend a compulsory 'training' session, for which the jobseeker was asked to pay either $650 or $850. In reality, UUBR had no genuine business, no genuine revenues and no genuine intention to hire these jobseekers."

Lim and Tan-Soo are out on bail of $110,000 each. The trial resumes on Tuesday.