More than 50 remote freelancers across Southeast Asia say they are owed unpaid wages after a Singapore-based marketing agency announced it would cease operations and file for liquidation.
On Saturday (25 April), the freelancers told MS News that Qurious Group Pte Ltd said it would be “shutting down” on Monday (27 April).
However, Qurious clarified that it would only cease operations when it officially files for liquidation on 8 May, and that it is currently continuing to service some existing client contracts within legal means.
In an email to MS News, a group representing the affected freelancers said the amount owed totals at least S$100,000, with payments outstanding from December 2025 to 25 April 2026.
They said the company continued assigning and receiving work during the five months that payments were outstanding.
As recently as 15 April, the company’s director, See Seng Tiong, had told them that a loan was being arranged to cover the outstanding payments.
However, on 24 April, freelancers said they were informed via a mass WhatsApp message that the loan had not been approved and that the company would be winding up.
Following this, the freelancers said they withheld the company’s access to their delivered work, stating that under their contracts, the outputs remain their intellectual property until full payment is received.
One freelance project manager from the Philippines, who asked not to be named, told MS News that Qurious owes her over S$2,000.
She said she had been with the company since August 2024 and would often receive her monthly salary up to 60 days late.
“They said that clients are not paying, that’s why they can’t pay us,” she said, adding that the company had promised in August 2025 to pay her a 5% late payment fee, but never did.
Meanwhile, a freelance brand manager from Singapore who wished to remain anonymous said Qurious laid her off in early March and owes her S$7,460 for work done in January and February.
In screenshots seen by MS News, Mr See suggested splitting the payments over four months, promising to pay “no later than 21st each month”.
Image courtesy of freelance brand manager
He later asked if he could pay S$800 first, with the remaining balance to follow on the 21st.
He also suggested that she continue servicing existing clients and be paid by them directly, but she declined.
Image courtesy of freelance brand manager
On 21 April, Mr See said the company had received a court notice and that its bank account had been frozen “earlier than . . . expected”, making him unable to proceed with the agreed payment plan.
In response, Mr See told MS News that not all freelancers were owed unpaid wages from December 2025 to April 2026, as some had already been paid while others had stopped working with the company.
He added that the company had cleared some December payments for freelancers who were still working at the time.
According to him, those who had not been paid requested fairness, prompting the company to propose distributing smaller payments equally among freelancers.
“This approach was rejected as they insisted we pay off everyone fully, which was unattainable due to the cashflow situation,” Mr See said.
Image courtesy of Mr See
“On our end, we made our best effort to arrange some form of payment, at least a minimum sum. But this was rejected,” he added.
He also said that some freelancers with urgent personal circumstances were given partial payments, including the freelance project manager from the Philippines.
“She told me that she had a surgery and needed money. I expressed to her that she and others wanted me to pay everyone fairly and was reluctant to release her payment because if I paid her first, people may think I was unfair. However, I decided to pay her some sum nonetheless.”
He said the company ultimately lacked the liquidity to meet full payment demands, and therefore decided to wind up in order to ensure all creditors are treated equitably.
The freelancers also shared messages in which Mr See said that “liability is not with the director” if a company closes and goes bankrupt.
He added that this meant his “easy way out is just to ignore everyone”, but said “that is not what I am doing”, and that he was “committed to pay this off” on a personal level “despite not having a legal obligation”.
Image courtesy of freelance project manager
However, according to the freelancers, he declined to formalise any repayment commitment in writing, allegedly saying: “Apologies. I will reject any legal binding arrangement to me.”
They added that when asked when payment could be expected, he replied: “Then let’s go with indefinite for now.”
The freelancers said they had waited five months for their outstanding payments.
“We are now being asked to wait indefinitely on yet another unwritten promise from someone who has openly admitted he has no legal obligation to follow through.”
They also expressed concern that, as overseas freelancers, their legal options are “extremely limited”.
“Once the company is formally wound up, recovery of any kind may become impossible,” they wrote.
Mr See confirmed he “was pressured by a group of freelancers to sign personal liability agreements to guarantee corporate debts”.
On legal advice, he declined these requests to maintain the “necessary legal separation between company and personal obligations”, noting it would have been “legally irresponsible” to sign such guarantees while preparing to enter a formal liquidation process.
He added that while he was “committed to provide relief, especially to those who are really in need of money”, he is currently unable to facilitate any transfer of personal funds as the company prepares to file for liquidation, since this could be considered preferential payment.
Mr See said he would only be able to explore such arrangements after the liquidation process has concluded.
He also explained that the “indefinite” timeline arose because he was being pressured to provide a fixed date, even though the duration of liquidation is determined by the authorities and the appointed liquidator.
He noted that he is unable to provide a definite timeline for repayment, as he does not know how long the liquidation process will take.
“The company is caught in a very difficult situation because, till this day, we have people who just want to be paid, even a small sum. But we couldn’t, because if we paid them first, we would be called out for being biased.”
Mr See said the company is preparing to file for liquidation under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act (IRDA), citing a sharp decline in revenue starting in late 2025 that was “compounded by significant payment delays from several major clients”.
He reiterated that the company is currently operating with a reduced team and will continue to service some clients within legal means until existing contracts expire.
“The Director welcomes a full audit and investigation of all accounts to confirm that all corporate assets remain within the estate,” his statement said, adding that he remains committed to cooperating with the liquidator and relevant authorities to ensure a transparent and fair conclusion for all affected parties.
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Featured image adapted from MJ_Prototype from Getty Images on Canva, for illustration purposes only.