'Shark' Thuy was arrested, parents said getting money back is difficult but still hopeful

'Shark' Thuy in a dialogue with parents in Ho Chi Minh City in 2023 - Photo: TRONG NHAN

After learning that the police investigation agency had initiated a case and prosecuted the defendant Nguyen Ngoc Thuy (Shark Thuy), Mr. P. - a parent in Ho Chi Minh City, whose two children had studied English at Apax Leaders - said that he and many other parents felt happy because after more than a year of demanding tuition fees and calling for help, the authorities had intervened.

Mr. P. said Apax Leaders owes tuition reimbursement for two of his children's contracts, one for 25.7 million VND and one for 189.3 million VND.

Mr. P. is in the group of parents whose second tuition fee was confirmed.

For this group, Apax Leaders representative promised to pay him 20% of the total debt on October 9, 2023, the next installments of 20% will be paid on November 20, 2023, December 20, 2023, March 20, 2024 and April 20, 2024 respectively.

Up to now, the amount of money Mr. P. has claimed back from Apax Leaders is… 0 VND. He said that many parents are still following the developments of the case surrounding "Shark" Thuy and Apax Leaders, but many are wondering whether they can get their tuition back or not?

A little luckier than Mr. P., Ms. T. - a parent in Ho Chi Minh City whose child used to study at Apax Leaders of "Shark" Thuy - received a refund of... 4.8 million VND, equivalent to 5% of the tuition fee Apax had to pay her. The total amount that Apax Leaders still owes her is 93 million VND.

"I know it's very difficult to get money back from 'Shark' Thuy, but I hope it's possible. For many families, tens of millions is a large amount of money. I know many parents owe more than 200 million, even 300 million VND," said Ms. T.

Mr. N., whose child used to study at Apax Leaders, said that in early 2022, he paid about 105 million VND in tuition for his child's 12-month English course. After 2 months of studying, the facility his child attended closed. He was informed that the premises were being restructured, then apologized for the lack of teachers.

Up to now, although Apax Leaders has repeatedly made plans to refund tuition fees to parents, he said it is all still just… on paper. He has not received a single penny.

"My family is well-off, so it's okay if we can't get back more than 100 million VND, but I think this case needs to be handled seriously to serve as a deterrent," said Mr. N.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/shark-thuy-bi-bat-phu-huynh-noi-lay-lai-tien-la-kho-nhung-van-hy-vong-20240326180456079.htm