I'd try paying anonymously with a prepaid debit card, using a spoofed social media account/persona that is somewhat complete.

Then keep referring to that "mysterious group owner" who is very supportive, but who can never make it him or herself ;-)

OR you could have someone using their own ID and card for meetup.com, someone who would be a virtual host from outside the country. I'd be happy to help with that, I've been in a similar situation for too long...

All of this is assuming that you kinda need to use meetup.com of course!