"Starboy" Matt Bowden - one of the pioneers of New Zealand's legal highs industry - tipped himself into bankruptcy yesterday, according to insolvency records.
The 45-year-old, when filing for bankruptcy, supplied the Insolvency and Trustee Service with an address in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Bowden put his company, Stargate Operations, into voluntary liquidation last year when he couldn't afford to pay his bills and was locked out of his lab where he made legal highs.
Creditors claimed more than $3.6 million from the failed firm.
Inland Revenue wanted more than $1 million and 22 unsecured creditors said they were owed $2.2 million. Employees claimed $457,000 in wages, redundancy, bonuses and holiday pay. Of this, about $137,000 was paid.