What a load of garbage!
Jeeze HC. Would those 'complaining people' and 'dead wood' be the ones that gave you their time, honesty, trust and hard work for nothing? You dont even have plans, grand or otherwise, of paying them what they are owed, do you? All those people believed in a great little business that you fleeced! Where is the mansion mate? Lets see .... Fiji, Tahiti?
And whether you think you have done wrong or not (and lets face it, you arent ever going to admit that you have, are you?), to shut down a business without paying the staff IS YOUR FAULT and YOUR RESPONSIBILITY , so how about doing the right thing .... for once?!
What goes around comes around, friend.