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An “ethical” travel company that lost millions of dollars in customer deposits to crypto-trading before shutting down and refusing to refund clients also received the Covid wage subsidy.
Hutt-based company Wearebamboo previously provided international holiday packages, mostly to US, UK, Canadian and Australian customers, in which clients could engage in volunteer work while on their holiday.
Bamboo announced its closure in October 2022, telling hundreds of customers who had already paid for their holidays they would not be receiving refunds under the “force majeure” section of their terms and conditions.
Shelly Miller helped care for elephants on an earlier trip taken with Kiwi-based travel company We Are Bamboo. Photo / Supplied
But customers were shocked and angry to discover last week the reason the company folded was because director Colin Salisbury lost more than US$2 million ($3.24m) of customer funds to cryptocurrency trading from October 2020 until mid-2022.
Customers were further angered to realise Bamboo had received the Government’s Covid-19 wage subsidy during the time Salisbury was losing millions to bad trades and fraudulent platforms.
Bamboo received three payments of $19,629.60, $10,286.40, and $2636 for up to four employees, Government records show.
The news comes on the heels of customer complaints about Salisbury and co-founder Mark Foster-Murray’s “lavish” lifestyles in the years between the pandemic beginning and the company closing.
Customer Sheryl Yesucevitz, from Massachusetts, said she had seen social media posts showing Foster-Murray’s “extravagant wedding in a castle” in June last year, and Salisbury’s journey building a boat which he planned to sail the world in.
Sheryl Yesucevitz, of Massachusetts, said she booked the trips as a way to 'give back' while travelling. Photo / Supplied
In an email sent out to Bamboo customers before the closure, Salisbury announced his intention to break a world record.
He and his sailing partner were set to depart on September 1 this year from Auckland to sail their 19ft yacht around the world in 400 days, creating a new record by sailing a boat under 20ft, the email said.
Salisbury’s boat-building project has been documented on his Facebook page, along with posts about international holidays, including a trip to Thailand in mid-2022, just months before the company announced its closure. It is not clear whether Salisbury intends to continue with the project.
Foster-Murray’s wedding was held at a castle in Cardiff, Wales. It is understood he lives abroad.
Indiana woman Sharon Barrett said she was one of the “senior citizens” who lost money on a prepaid trip.
“I had booked with confidence because I had travelled with Bamboo previously on a well-run volunteer vacation to Thailand and Cambodia,” she told the Herald.
She was scheduled to go on an “over 50s” group tour to Thailand in March this year, a trip she spent US$2000 on.
“It came with a stated guarantee of a reschedule or refund if Bamboo had to cancel the trip without a replacement,” she said.
Barrett said Bamboo marketed “heavily” to older travellers, and many of the tours were booked by single women such as herself, looking for a “safe adventure”.
Learning the money wasn’t held safely in an account but was instead used by Salisbury to “speculate in Bitcoin” was “infuriating, to say the least”.
“I hope New Zealand laws can hold them accountable for dissipating customers’ money, and also for targeting seniors in their marketing, as it seems a lot of the losses were incurred by retirees.”
The money she lost was hundreds more than her monthly pension, and she had bought the trip to celebrate her future retirement.
“This was intended to be my final volunteer vacation. As I approach 70, I find my stamina a bit less than required,” she said.
“We Are Bamboo didn’t just steal our money, they stole dreams, and for some like me, possibly a last chance to travel that way ever again.
“It was kind of a last hurrah trip for me and it’s doubtful I will be able to travel like that again.”
The Commerce Commission and Serious Fraud Office have been investigating the matter, but have suspended their investigations pending the outcome of the company’s liquidation.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s integrity and enforcement team (IET) is also investigating possible breaches of the Companies Act 1992.
IET manager Vanessa Cook said this investigation remained ongoing as the liquidation was not complete.
“Insolvency practitioners have a duty to report serious problems if they have reasonable grounds to believe a serious problem has arisen in relation to the company they are liquidating,” Cook said.
Serious problems include an offence being committed, or someone misapplying, retaining, or becoming liable for the company’s money or property or being guilty of negligence, default or a breach of duty or trust.
It also includes past or present company directors breaching their duty in a “material respect” or the company being managed in a way that has “materially contributed to the company’s failure”.
“As soon as practicable after identifying the serious problem, the insolvency practitioner must report it to the Registrar of Companies, or the New Zealand Police and/or the regulatory body responsible for investigating or prosecuting the offence.
“Following the making of the report, the insolvency practitioner must provide any assistance in respect of information or access to documents that may be required by the investigating agency in order to ensure that fulsome enquiries are able to be conducted.”
Ministry of Social Development client service support group general manager George van Ooyen said companies receiving the subsidy had to sign a declaration saying they would only use the subsidy for paying the ordinary wages and salary of the employees named in their application.
“The declaration also makes it clear that applicants may be subjected to civil proceedings or criminal prosecution for failing to meet any of their obligations for how they use the subsidy,” van Ooyen said.
They have not received any complaints about Wearebamboo.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
