Matt Bowden has put his company, Stargate Operations, into liquidation and has been locked out of his lab where he made synthetic cannabis.
Mr Bowden made millions as the godfather of party pills and legal highs in New Zealand. But ever since the Government banned them, his business has struggled.
"This has been the most difficult time of my life," says Mr Bowden. "Dealing with this has been more difficult than dealing with meth addiction, or the other things I have been through in life.
"I cannot afford to pay my bills; I cannot afford to pay my technical staff; I cannot afford to pay the team members working with me. I have had to put the company into liquidation, which is really horrible because there [are] people I would like to pay money to. I just can't do that."
He obviously owes a substantial amount, but how much? He says he cannot say for legal reasons.
As the godfather of party pills and legal highs, the 43-year-old made a lot of money. He was flashy and flamboyant, never more so than when performing as his rock alter-ego, Starboy.
He admits his wealth dropped dramatically once the Government banned synthetic drugs, following a public backlash including protest marches around the country.
He has had to sell the Audi to pay the bills, and he says he can barely afford weekly groceries.
"I do not have millions of dollars stashed somewhere," Mr Bowden says. "I know some of the stories out there are I am living a multimillion-dollar lifestyle – a lot of that is just hype."
So where did his money go?
Hundreds of thousands of dollars went into the lab where he produced his products, which, he says, had zero adverse effects.
Now, he is locked out.
"The assets of the company will be taken away from me. I [have] no control anymore. That is what happens with liquidation. I tried really hard to do everything that I could to be able to pay back my debtors, pay back my creditors, but it took too long.
"Maybe I have made some mistakes along the way, and I accept that if that is bad karma then that is fine, but I have probably got some good karma owing as well."
He obviously believes that as he now wants the public's help to produce natural cannabis medicine.
Mr Bowden wants to set up a not-for-profit organisation where he will do the research then develop the products. He will need hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he says investors will get their money back.
He insists he is not the bad guy, and that this is just a bad moment.
3 News
source: newshub archive
