Thursday was an atypically busy day at the office of Istuary Innovation Group.
But this wasn’t any ordinary workday. An auction was being held at the once-promising startup to sell everything it owned so that B.C.’s Employment Standards Branch could recover millions owed.
WATCH: A Vancouver tech company owes millions of dollars in unpaid wages
Everything was on the table — desks, computers, even a robotic arm.
“This stuff is especially nice, it’s very high-end furniture,” said an Able Auctions employee.
“Very high-end monitors and furnishings.”
READ MORE: Vancovuer tech startup, Istuary, ordered to pay millions in unpaid wages
All of it a reminder of the company that Istuary used to be — a vibrant tech startup with more than 100 employees.
Workers at the company contacted Global News in September, saying they hadn’t been paid in four months.
Company founder Ethan Sun and his wife Yulan Hu were also accused of taking money that they were supposed to use for their company and using it to buy multi-million dollar properties in Metro Vancouver.
In a letter addressed to employees and investors in October, Sun insisted that his company was not a Ponzi scheme and that everybody would be compensated soon.
WATCH: A Vancouver tech company owes millions of dollars in unpaid wages
In October, B.C.’s Employment Standards Branch ordered Istuary to pay $2.9 million in unpaid wages to 122 workers who had complained they hadn’t received their money.
Hence, Thursday’s auction.
The Employment Standards Branch told Global News in an email that it is “authorized to collect money from third-parties who are or will be holding funds for Istuary, which the auctioneer may be following today’s auction proceeding.”
As many as 34 other corporate entities linked to Istuary are now being considered as a single employer under the Employment Standards Act.
They, too, are being investigated for unpaid wages.
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