Inside millionaire CEO Geoff Bainbridge’s ‘meth extortion’ scandal

The Australian has rejected suggestions it was involved in an “extortion attempt” after it published the “meth pipe” video that led to a high-profile CEO’s resignation.

The Australian has rejected suggestions it was involved in an “extortion attempt” after it published the “meth pipe” video that led to a multi-millionaire CEO’s resignation.

Geoff Bainbridge abruptly quit as chief executive of ASX-listed Lark Distilling on Tuesday after the newspaper obtained sexually explicit videos of the high-profile entrepreneur smoking methamphetamine.

The Hobart-based distiller announced Mr Bainbridge’s departure in a statement to the ASX on Wednesday morning “to enable him to manage a personal matter that was brought to the attention of the board on the afternoon of February 15”.

The 50-year-old, who was one of the early investors in burger chain Grill’d, then issued a statement and gave an interview to The Age from Los Angeles saying he had been the victim of a sophisticated, years-long extortion racket over the video, which he claimed dated back to 2015 from a trip to South-East Asia.

Footage showed Geoff Bainbridge firing up a meth pipe.

Before exhaling smoke.

Mr Bainbridge said he met a woman at a bar and woke up after a night of heavy drinking not remembering what had happened, before being confronted by two men who showed him the video footage and demanded money and threatened to expose him.

“After paying my extortionists, I sought advice from a London-based threat assessment agency and ceased responding to the extortionists’ threats. This resulted in video imagery being released to several media outlets,” Mr Bainbridge said in a statement provided to news.com.au.

“Although I consider myself a victim of a crime, I accept that I am also responsible for the circumstances I find myself in. Ultimately, I put myself in a situation I shouldn’t have been in. I’m a victim of extortion but that wouldn’t have occurred without my poor judgment. I am deeply remorseful for my own actions.”

In a column on Thursday, The Australian’s investigations editor Sharri Markson defended the article, saying Mr Bainbridge’s alleged drug use would be a matter of concern for investors in Lark Distilling.

She also questioned his claim that the videos were from 2015, saying “my sources say the videos were filmed more recently”.

The Australian says it obtained three videos, but only chose to publish a small snippet from one.

The Australian’s investigations editor Sharri Markson.

“When we came into possession of the videos, it was clear this would be of concern to directors and shareholders,” Markson wrote.

“The majority of Lark’s shareholders are retail mum-and-dad investors.”

Markson said The Australian first obtained the videos on January 10 and “decided to examine Bainbridge’s history and pattern of behaviour before considering publishing”.

When first contacted on February 15, Mr Bainbridge said through his lawyers that one video had been manipulated and was unverified and another two videos were fake.

Markson said the newspaper asked additional questions about the alleged extortion attempt and offered an interview to explain how the videos were taken.

She insisted there was “no ill-will towards Bainbridge and we readily agreed to give him more time to respond”.

“Instead of accepting our offer of an interview, he chose to explain the alleged circumstances around which the videos had been filmed to our media rivals at Nine newspapers. By the time he gave that interview, his version of events had changed. He no longer said the videos were fake, manipulated or unverified,” Markson wrote.

Lark Distilling founder Bill Lark, left, and former managing director Geoff Bainbridge.

“The Age, suspending belief, published without evidence a claim by Bainbridge that the extortionists were so technically proficient that they had managed to alter the date stamp on one of the videos to make it appear as if it was captured in 2021 and not in 2015. The unpublished videos offer a different version of events.”

Markson said Mr Bainbridge was alone in the three “extremely sexually explicit videos of himself masturbating, watching hardcore pornography and smoking meth”, and “clearly seems to know how to use the paraphernalia”.

“Bainbridge seems to be implying The Australian has played some role in the extortion attempt. This is beyond belief. We were investigating the story over five weeks and intended to publish whether or not he paid money to his so-called ­extortionist,” she wrote.

“It would be scandalous for a media outlet to cover up the fact that a multi-millionaire CEO of a publicly listed company had consumed such a dangerous substance as methamphetamine, a drug that is responsible for a high number of emergency department admissions and deaths and can cause psychosis, anxiety and brain dysfunction.”

News.com.au has sought additional comment from Mr Bainbridge.