A principal sponsor of the failed Wings and Wheels over Waikato show doubts he will ever get his money back.
Blokart International's general manager, Matt Beckett, paid $25,000 to help get the March event underway, but he says it clearly got too overwhelming for the organiser, Kenneth Ross.
Airshow.co.nz has has gone into liquidation and the Commerce Commission has stepped in to ensure ticketholders get refunded.
Mr Ross, is facing more than 200 criminal charges related to fraud and misleading behaviour.
The Commission says it intervened because Mr Ross was forwarding ticket refund requests to the Minister of Commerce, which was innappropriate.
"We had to step in to make sure the ticketholders' funds are safeguarded as far as possible. Mr Ross obviously can't be trusted and we are very disappointed in his actions," the Commission's director of fair trading Adrian Sparrow said.
Ticketholders can register on the Commission's website and refunds are expected to come through when it's established how much money will be available.