It was touted as the hotspot for local celebrities to hang out. But the Celebrities Resort Club never opened.

Thirty of its employees are owed salaries up to $30,000 in total. Their positions at the club ranged from waiter to manager.

Started by former Mediacorp actor Lin Yisheng, together with two partners, the club stands at the Thomson Lane plot of another ill-fated club - the Europa Country Club Resort, which closed in March 2006.

The opening was then postponed to Jan 18. The restaurant was already being prepared for the opening ahead of the hotel and spa, said food and beverage operations manager Reno Tay, 41, who is owed over $6,000 in salary.

"We had taken the pictures, and the menu was ready," he said. "Our operations were 90 per cent complete."

The club also went through several changes of investors, he added. Most of the club's employees started work in mid-December last year, when a new investor told Mr Lin to start employing people in preparation for an earlier planned opening in late December, Mr Tay said.

Not only did the launch not materialise, employees were told to go on no-pay leave in the first week of January. They were promised their December pay by the end of last month, they claimed.

However, up till yesterday, when 12 employees met with Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officials to seek help, they have not been paid.

Mr Tay said that MOM told them it will send official letters to the company's directors and set a date for a mediation session.

"We're worried that in one to two weeks time, the company will be sold, and we won't be able to get our money," he said.

Mr Lin's wife, Wendy, told my paper that the investor has received a list of the amount outstanding for each employee yesterday, and had promised to pay them as soon as possible.

Everything in the club is due to be auctioned off tomorrow, if it is still unable to pay its rental fees, Mr Tay said.

When my paper was at the club last Tuesday, auction stickers were pasted on its furniture.

Twenty-one employees had also made a police report that morning.

Mr Lin said that day that he was having difficulties contacting the investor.

He himself could not be contacted yesterday.