A MILLIONAIRE businessman who was caught up in a Labour Party funding row is facing claims that his mobile phone company owes months of unpaid wages to staff.

Workers at Picsel Technologies in Renfrew, which is owned by Imran Khand, say they have not been paid since the firm announced it is shedding almost a third of its workers.

Picsel is cutting 90 out of 250 jobs worldwide, including 20 staff at its base in Braehead Business Park, King's Inch Road, as part of a cost-cutting plan.

However, staff who kept their jobs claim they have not been paid since January, with no assurances when they will get their money.

It is understood workers who were sent home on "gardening leave" (required to serve their notice period at home) after losing their jobs have also received no cash from the software firm.

The company was co-founded by Mr Khand in 1998 and now has offices throughout Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia and America.

In 2007 Mr Khand was revealed as a leading financial backer behind an organisation, Muslim Friends, that paid £100,000 a month to Labour between March and June.

An inquiry was launched by the Electoral Commission into Muslim Friends, which is chaired by Glasgow Labour MP Mohammad Sarwar, but no action was taken.

One Picsel employee said: "The company shed 30% of the workforce in March with the promise this would help pay for the overdue wages, but this has not happened.

"Those who were paid off were sent on gardening leave but they are not being paid and have to wait for their redundancy money and gardening leave pay.

"Staff who were kept on are expected to work for no pay until the company decides it wants to pay them. This has been going on since February. The board is making a mockery of its employees."

Picsel boasts a customer list that includes worldwide names such as Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Sharp.

Drew Ballantyne, Picsel's commercial director said: "We are in the process of making 90 jobs redundant globally as part of a restructure.

"We have to put the business in the right place to deal with what we are seeing now and what we expect to see over the next nine months. All our customers in the software industry are trimming back. It is unfortunate and not something we have taken lightly.

"There have been delays in some salary payments, but staff have been kept fully informed.

"The redundancy packages have been negotiated adhering strictly to employment laws."