Man behind closed schools identified

A man linked to two deregistered private international schools is listed as the present or previous director of five companies, all registered to the same address in Queen St, Auckland.

Yesterday the Qualifications Authority named Tom Lee as the former director of Auckland's City Language Academy.

The school, which taught English language to Chinese pupils, was deregistered by the authority last week for falsely advertising it offered Qualifications Authority-approved courses.

The authority said Mr Lee was the same person identified in a television programme last year, allegedly helping to sell a false diploma in business through the New Zealand Academy of Studies. The authority deregistered the academy last month.

According to the Companies Office, Mr Lee has been or is the director of five limited liability companies, all registered at Level 7, 109 Queen St.

The Academy of Studies was not one of these companies and the authority said Mr Lee was "identified" only as being involved in the alleged sale of the false diploma in the Illegal NZ television programme.

Mr Lee remains the listed director and sole shareholder of New Zealand Student Service and the AA Taxation and Accounting Service.

He is listed as a past director of PC Solution New Zealand, New Zealand Academy of Technology, and City Language Academy. All five companies remain registered with the Companies Office.

Attempts to reach Mr Lee this week were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Richard Goodall, president of AIS St Helens, one of the country's biggest private providers, has criticised the Qualifications Authority, saying he had been notifying it of concerns about other private providers for about five years, yet action was only now being taken.

The concerns related to schools forewarning pupils of exam questions, and being overly relaxed about entry criteria.

Authority quality assurance deputy chief executive Tim Fowler said the agency always looked into "evidence-based claims" regarding illegal or inappropriate behaviour.

However, the authority needed evidence before it could take action.

Mr Fowler said the New Zealand Academy of Studies was the first private training establishment the authority had deregistered specifically for fraudulent activity.

- © Fairfax NZ News