KEY POINTS:
The collapse of a taxpayer-funded training school has raised questions whether money intended for teacher aide training has been used to build a $30 million property empire.
Liquidators investigating Case Boreham Associates have stated they believe funding meant to keep the private college's eight campuses going had been "diverted" to other companies.
The report by McDonald Vague states some of the $1.2 million a year from the Tertiary Education Commission was lent to other companies "without adequate documentation, security or reasonable expectation of repayment". Court documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday show liquidators' concerns that "diverted" money was paid into companies connected to Case Boreham Associates director Robyn Case.
The liquidation and claims money had been "diverted" have been rejected by Robyn Case. She says she is the victim of a vendetta; three related companies are also in liquidation. She has also rejected a quality audit by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, which was critical of the schools run by Case. One criticism in the 2006 quality audit obtained by the Herald on Sunday was that tutors couldn't answer student questions and frequently left at short notice. The audit followed a similar poor review in 2005.
National Party education spokeswoman Katherine Rich said the college should not have got any funding after the 2005 audit.
"Any person doing a course would expect the tutors to know what they are teaching. The warning signals were so clear they should have been closed down earlier. This organisation should not have got another cent after 2005 yet the Government kept dishing out the money. Why did they continue to hand out hundreds of thousands of dollars when this organisation was failing on so many levels."
