An ex employee is suing me in labor court after renewing his visa to help him

I have an LLC company. An ex-employee - with me for 12 years - is suing me in labor court. I told all my employees to leave in March 2020 when all events were canceled due to Covid as there was no money to sustain the business.

He said he doesn't want to go back to Iraq with his wife and kids, so we agreed that he would do freelance work if any came in.

In April 2021, he finally agreed to return to Iraq but kept stalling and then begged me in June to renew his visa - he said then they would feel safe if any trouble happened in Iraq to be able to return.

I renewed his visa as a kind gesture to help him and he never returned to Iraq. Instead, he went to the labor dept at the end of December 2021 and claimed unpaid salaries for a year.

The paperwork is not in my favor as it was not until the end of 2021 that I realized he was playing a game with me. Can I apply for liquidation as the owner of the LLC Economic Dept. license?

I do not have the huge funds to pay what he is claiming.