--

Feb. 5--Last summer, business was looking pretty good for the Air Platinum Club. The luxury jet service had a Gulfstream GIV, a staff of pilots and flight attendants and a collection of luxury cars and boats for wealthy clients to use on visits to Miami.

But now, some seven months later, the picture has changed. The Gulfstream is gone. The offices at Turnberry Aviation in Opa-locka are closed. And angry former employees say the company owes them thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.

Mickael Cohen, the French expatriate who owns the company, said most of the complaints are nothing more than the grousing of disgruntled employees.

Cohen said workers have tried to hit him up for money he doesn't really owe. He even filed a police report against one former employee, accusing him of improperly charging $27.54 worth of pizza. He filed a report with Hollywood police in December, months after the April pizza purchase.

Ben Barbarot, Air Platinum's former marketing director, said the company's problems extend beyond unpaid workers.

"It's not only employees not getting paid; it's also suppliers," Barbarot said. "Everything is gone. They repossessed the boat. They repossessed the cars."

Lorraine Thornton, the former chief flight attendant, said Air Platinum paid her only after she hired a lawyer, who wrote two letters to the company.