A businessman who has been accused of operating a fake security company for almost a decade and takingmoney from persons interested in being guards, has been hauled before the court.

Information reaching THE WEEKEND STAR is that the accused man, is alleged to have misled persons into paying him, thinking they would be trained to become security guards.

In the end however, these persons are said to have been sent to work at some big open lots, sometimes standing guard over nothing but sticks and stones. The allegations are that they were never paid for their duties.

The police did not disclose the amount of money said to be owed to the victims, but said it is an exorbitant sum as they are still receiving complaints from victims. One such person claims the man owes her at least $30,000 for 'guard duties'.

The accused man was reportedly arrested last December and the case is before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's court. Despite this however, investigators are suspecting that he might have carried out other acts as they have received more recent reports from complainants. When contacted yesterday, one investigator told THE WEEKEND STAR that the accused man was slapped with charges of obtaining money by false pretence and operating a security company without a license.

"This man is not authorised to operate a security company, he is not registered with the body that grants licences," the investigator said.

When he was arrested there were eight statements against him. An additional three were received since his arrest, the investigator added.

Allegations are that the accused placed newspaper advertisements promoting security guard jobs. Once interested persons made contact, however, they were told they had to go through the required training, which came at a cost.

After the course, some were said to have never been given any form of duty while others are encouraged to wait until there was a site to secure.

The lucky few who got jobs are said to have secured the open lots. The police claim that when the victims became suspicious the accused man moved his office to another location.