MANILA, Philippines – Three employees of a recruitment agency were arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation after they allegedly defrauded about 300 prospective overseas workers of P20 million for non-existent jobs in Spain.

Rommel Busto, 39, liaison officer of Ren-Glo Enterprises, was apprehended by bureau agents over the weekend at his house in Western Bicutan, Taguig City. Albert Apostadero, 39, and Rizalina Tabajonda, 46, both agents of the recruitment agency, were earlier arrested in separate operations by the NBI.

Apostadero was arrested after he agreed to meet his “chatmate,” an undercover agent of the NBI. He was nabbed in a condominium unit on Timog Avenue in Quezon City. Tabajonda was turned over to the Morong Municipal Jail following her arrest on March 29 in Cainta, Rizal province.

The NBI, meanwhile, is hunting down the recruitment firm’s owners, Renato Tomas and his wife Gloria.

About a hundred complainants who went to the NBI Tuesday claimed the suspects promised them jobs as hotel chambermaids and room boys. They added that the suspects demanded and received from them P70,000 to P90,000 each as placement fees.

The NBI Special Task Force said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) had canceled the agency’s license on Feb. 19, 2007. A POEA certification also showed that the three suspects were not authorized to recruit workers for overseas employment.

The three suspects had several standing warrants of arrest for estafa and syndicated illegal recruitment cases, the NBI added.