DENPASAR, Bali — In Bali’s booming property market, promises are easy to sell.
Luxury apartments. Boutique restaurants. High-return investments tied to the island’s tourism surge.
But behind some of those glossy developments, a different story is beginning to surface: unpaid vendors, halted construction, and foreign investors left questioning where their money went.
At the center of the allegations is Tavolo Group, a company reportedly operated by two American brothers of Bosnian origin, Edo and Ado Dozofik. Multiple local vendors and a project consultant allege the group raised significant funds for projects in Canggu and Kerobokan, while leaving behind unresolved payments and unfinished work.
One furniture vendor said he completed work worth nearly Rp1 billion for apartment showroom units, receiving only partial payment before the project stalled for almost a year.
“There was no funds,” the vendor said.
Another source described what he called a recurring pattern: older obligations left unpaid while new contractors were brought into ongoing projects.
“They don’t finish paying the old vendors,” the source said. “They just leave them behind and move to new contractors.”
A consultant involved in the Kerobokan project described a similar experience, alleging that work often proceeded through verbal instructions rather than formal written agreements, creating uncertainty once payments stopped.
Tavolo Group denied all allegations, stating that all professional relationships had been conducted “well and transparently” and that payments followed contractual agreements.
No supporting documentation was publicly provided.
While the disputed sums are relatively modest by global investment standards, the case highlights a growing vulnerability inside Bali’s fast-moving property economy: projects marketed internationally, but operating within blurred lines of informal trust, weak oversight, and limited legal certainty.
For many foreign investors, Bali still sells the image of opportunity.
But for vendors waiting to be paid, and investors still waiting for returns, the island’s property boom increasingly comes with a harder question:
Who is actually watching where the money goes?