New Zealand National College (NZNC) – an Auckland business school that shut its doors on 2017 – has pleaded guilty to stealing money from international students.
The school was deregistered by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) because of concerns about its programme delivery and quality assessments.
The guilty plea followed an investigation into the refunds to students after the college closed.
Former students of NZNC, who mainly came from China and India, paid between $10,000 and $16,000 for a one-year business diploma.
The students were only paid back about half of their fees when NZQA deregistered the college.
NZQA found that NZNC misappropriated student fees, which led to a shortfall in the money available for refunds to students. NZNC was found to have:
- intentionally failed to deposit some student fees to a trust, and
- used tuition fees paid by students to conceal missing money within the trust.
NZQA laid six charges of theft by a person in a special relationship in August. The college pleaded guilty during a hearing at Auckland District Court on Friday.
It will be sentenced on January 14. The charges carry a penalty of up to seven years in jail.
Source: NZ Herald