Hong Kong tutoring centre owner slapped with 240 hours of community service
Court orders director of Brilliant Education to compensate eight parents who paid fees for programmes shortly before business’ abrupt closure
A Hong Kong private tutoring chain director has been sentenced to 240 hours of community service for selling HK$70,000 (US$9,000) worth of prepaid programmes to eight parents before the company’s abrupt closure last year.
Eastern Court on Monday also ordered Margaret Pang Tse-tung, 52, to pay back the eight customers after she decided to accept prepayments for courses at her company, Brilliant Education, despite plans to close down the business after accumulating a HK$6.4 million debt.
Pang, who was the education centre’s sole director, was arrested by customs officers days after she closed all of its five branches without prior notice on July 29 last year, sparking a wave of complaints from parents.
She earlier pleaded guilty to eight counts of wrongly accepting payment in breach of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.
The court heard Brilliant Education had received from the eight parents tutorial fees ranging from HK$3,150 to HK$12,880 between July 9 and 24, 2023.
An investigation revealed the chain had defaulted on wage payments in excess of HK$2.7 million since April that year.
The company also failed to settle rents for its branches from as early as February 2023, with the outstanding sum snowballing to HK$3.7 million by the time of its closure.
