This is a follow-up I exchanged this morning with Namgel Sherpa. It doesn't take a year to get donations collected to a Sherpa widow and her children. Especially since when he relaunched the company website on Friday, a donation button to benefit Thundu was prominently on the front page.
There are also no new firetrucks in Nepal, from all the donations he raised for that effort. But maybe the executive team is still sorting out the details while pounding brews at the charity's HQ at the Last Call Bar & Grill.
To illustrate that there isn't a bottom too low for Michael Kobold, Namgel also writes that when Michael Kobold formed Kobold Watch Company Nepal (Pvt.) Ltd., he opened a $10,000 credit line at a Nepal investment bank in the Sherpas' name. Since foreigners can't have credit in Nepal, the Sherpas agreed to the credit line when the company formed. Kobold ran up personal expenses & left them indebted to the bank to the tune of $10,000, which both Sherpas paid for out of their own pockets.
I haven't heard from Michael Kobold. A couple people sent me links to his social media. He's read this article and is on a self-serving social media campaign to promote a new book he's writing that is going to explain the issues raised in this article. Undoubtedly, all proceeds from the sale of that book to benefit his favorite charity - himself.