A recruiting firm is under fire after scores of Prey Veng families complained they received no job leads after paying 1 million riel ($250) per person for assistance finding work in Thailand.

The 87 families in Svay Antor’s Pea Reang commune filed complaints with anti-human trafficking officials in Prey Veng province after, they say, the AP TSE & C Cambodia Resources Co Ltd recruitment firm failed to find any of them employment in Thailand, a service for which they charged thousands of dollars.

Villagers such as Khum Thor, 40, paid the company in early 2012, hoping their investment would be paid back in the form of employment in the neighbouring country, she said. But more than a year after Thor paid 5 million riel ($1,250) for the company to find employment for her and four family members, she still frets about how she will pay back money she borrowed for the deposit.

“I can hardly sleep because I owe somebody a lot of money,” Thor said.

“I have to pay interest every month because I thought I’d have a job in Thailand for a high wage but we’ve received no work.”

Representatives from AP TSE & C Cambodia could not be reached for comment yesterday.

An official from the company visited Pea Reang commune to discuss the situation with anti-human trafficking officials Friday, according to the General Commissariat of National Police website.