A self-employed Rotorua travel agent has been left nearly $40,000 out of pocket after the business of former MP Marama Fox went into liquidation.

Rotorua travel broker Amy Turuta is owed $39,165.57 by Marama Fox's Consultancy Group Tapui, which was placed in liquidation by court order earlier this week.

Turuta said Fox’s business had not paid a cent of what was owed, and Fox had not responded to any calls, texts, or emails since May. But on Friday, Fox told Newsroom she was "devastated" at the current situation.

Fox's business also owes more than $30,000 to a Masterton IT firm, and it is understood the landlord of the Masterton premises it operated out of is also owed money.

Turuta is an independent contractor for NZ Travel Brokers and is personally liable for the debt.

The mother of three said that at this stage she was waiting to see whether there was any chance of recovering any of what she was owed.

“I think it would actually ruin me to be honest,” she said.

Fox, the former co-leader of the Māori Party, set up her business after her party was ousted from Parliament in last year's election.

She was travelling the country in an effort to get investors for a proposed venture to build environmentally friendly, affordable homes. . . . .>