Nearly half of more than 6,000 companies investigated by labour officials have turned out to be ghost firms, it was revealed last night.

Forty-three per cent of 6,175 firms checked by the end of last month were bogus, said LMRA deputy chief executive for legal affairs Yunis Al Hermi.

He said 10,104 illegal expatriates were registered with these ghost companies and were actually working for themselves or for other parties.

They will face immediate deportation if seized as they are flouting the law, said Al Hermi.

He said irregularities were found at 2,770 companies.

Some have already been referred to the General Prosecution and the remainder will follow, he said.-TradeArabia News Service