We’re Bamboo’s Crypto Downfall: Insult Injury Amid Founders’ ‘Lost’ Social Media Posts

Would-be tourists who lost thousands on travel company We Are Bamboo say the director and co-founder lived lavishly with “extravagant” weddings, overseas vacations and a plan to build a boat and sail around the world.

The company came under fire after a liquidation report revealed that director Colin Salisbury put more than US$2 million ($3.24 million) of client funds into several cryptocurrency platforms from October 2020 until mid-2022, and lost all the funds.

We Are Bamboo announced in October last year that it was going live, and hundreds of customers who had already paid for their holidays would not receive refunds under the “force majeure” section of the terms and conditions.

The company offered ethical travel packages that allowed customers to engage in volunteer work in the countries they visited. Most of the customers were from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

In a closing time statement, Bamboo blamed Covid and a small group of customers who were unwilling to wait any longer for a refund, but customers were shocked last week to discover that the money had been lost trading cryptocurrency. This included $800,000 placed by Salisbury into four fraudulent crypto platforms.

The salt has been rubbed in the wound for some clients who said Salisbury and co-founder Mark Foster-Murray had previously posted pictures online of their “lavish” lifestyles.

Customer Cheryl Yesowitz, of Massachusetts, said she saw posts on social media showing Foster Murray’s “lavish castle wedding” in June last year, and Salisbury’s trip to build a boat he planned to sail around the world on.

In an email sent to Bamboo customers prior to the closing, Salisbury announced his intention to break a world record.

The email said he and his sailing partner were scheduled to depart on September 1 this year from Auckland to sail the 19-foot yacht around the world in 400 days, setting a new record by sailing a boat under 20 feet in length.

The boat building project in Salisbury was 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 it was shutting down. It is not clear if Salisbury intends to continue with the project.

Foster Murray’s wedding took place at a castle in Cardiff, Wales. It is understood that he lives abroad.

No man or any We Are Bamboo representative responded Announce or have been contacted for comment.

“Seeing how lavish the extravagant lifestyle these two men gave me made me sick,” Yesowice said. “I’m a single mom. I work hard to do anything I want to do. If I want to take a vacation, I have to plan for a year.”

She felt that the couple had essentially taken her money – through their paychecks – and used it for “extravagant weddings and boat building” while she was left without her vacation or cash.

“I think it’s sad that we put our trust in these people for what we thought would be an amazing experience, that makes a difference, and they took advantage of it and left us with nothing.”

Donna Barracloff, a woman from Hamilton, said she was “not surprised” to hear how the money went missing.

“These people are using our hard-earned money as gambling money out of guilt.

“They live off their dreams, not their resources.”

Georgian woman Adrienne Thatcher had several rides with Bamboo before it closed, and she was booked to go to Vietnam.

“They broke my heart. I lost a lot of money but that’s nothing compared to what the staff and tour guides lost. They lost their livelihoods, animals and people who needed help, that’s what I care about.”

Many clients have low hopes that they will be able to get their money back when the liquidation process is complete.

While some people have successfully done chargebacks through their credit card companies, many are still out of pocket for several thousand dollars. The most recent BDO liquidation report showed that Bamboo had only $8,207 in cash on hand.

While the total creditors’ claims received by BDO exceed $4 million, this figure has not been verified. The BDO had trouble determining the exact amount owed due to Bamboo’s poor record-keeping system.

“The database the company used was unwieldy to extract information about customers who had paid their deposits — there was no clear list of creditors, largely because the database system was more than 12 years old,” the report said. “We were advised that preparing such a list would require manual extraction from individual creditors and the amount of creditors was so large that this would not be practical.”

Several customers are also arrested after purchasing a travel insurance package from Chubb through Bamboo’s website, only to be told by Chubb that their insurance is not valid.

“The company’s insolvency was never covered by travel insurance, and we understand that the policy only came into effect once a customer had begun their journey,” the report said.

“We are aware that the insurance lapsed in February 2020. The manager has confirmed under oath that customers were insured at all times when travelling, however we have not reviewed the documentation to support this claim.”

clients he spoke to Announce They said they had received messages from Chubb telling them their insurance was not there.

“There are also allegations that currency certificates have been falsified to include names of travelers and travel periods. This information will be forwarded to the Trade Commission and the Serious Fraud Office who will determine whether further action is appropriate.

The committee and the Counter-Terrorism Office suspended their investigations pending the outcome of the liquidation.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter covering crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has been a journalist for 10 years.