The public prosecution office has dismissed claims of labour exploitation, including human trafficking, against luxury gym chain Saints & Stars in Amsterdam, after looking into 11 complaints made by Filipino and Indonesian cleaners

However, the gym is still facing accusations of people smuggling and the falsification of documents, the department said in a statement on Monday.

The investigation started in July when social affairs ministry inspectors found that 23 cleaners at the gym were working there illegally.

They, it was claimed, were told to hand over their passports to their supervisors and were paid in cash. Some of the workers weren’t paid at all and others worked too long hours, the Parool reported at the time.

Owner of the gym Tom Moos always maintained that “a large part of the accusations were unfounded”, including the non-payment claim, and that he was “not aware” of any signs of exploitation.

The public prosecutor said people trafficking, which implies force, violence, extortion or false pretences, “cannot be proven based on the police reports and additional investigation”.

The gym could still be found guilty of people smuggling, however, which involves helping people to enter the country, or to helped to stay there illegally to make a profit,” the department said.

In a reaction, a spokesman for the gym said the decision came as “a relief”. “We are fully confident the other accusations will also be dropped,” he told the Volkskrant.