Educational travel company Actura New Zealand has today – July 17 – been placed into liquidation.
The move follows its Australian parent company, Actura Australia Pty Ltd, going into liquidation last month.
As the Times has previously reported, numerous east Auckland families are facing large financial losses following the company’s sudden collapse.
It and its New Zealand subsidiary ran educational trips for school pupils to locations including NASA in the United States and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
Several east Auckland schools and numerous local parents, many of whom are out of pocket more than $10,000, have been caught up in the situation.
In an email to parents on June 14, Actura Australia Pty Ltd chief executive officer Charles Chung said: “It is with regret and sadness that I must advise that Actura Australia Pty Ltd has with immediate effect gone into liquidation.”
According to the NZ Companies Office website, Actura NZ’s director is Tin Chung Chung of New South Wales, Australia.
The Times contacted Actura NZ via email on June 15 about its Australian parent’s company’s liquidation and received a reply stating: “Thank you for your email. Unfortunately Actura has ceased all operations. This inbox is no longer monitored.”
The Actura Australia website has since been taken offline.
Larissa Logan of Fixity Limited confirmed to the Times Actura NZ has been placed into liquidation by shareholder resolution at 2pm today and she has been appointed liquidator.
A statement posted today to a Facebook page for impacted parents says the liquidator was appointed to represent New Zealand families and that was only “possible due to those who have supported the cause with donating $100 to become preferred creditors and the generous donations to the Givealittle page”.
Since breaking the news of Actura’s liquidation, the Times has received numerous emails from angry and confused parents from east Auckland as well as the North Shore, Orewa, Tauranga, Wellington, Otago and Australia.
One of the numerous local parents affected says his son attends Macleans College and was supposed to leave New Zealand on an Actura international study trip to the United States on July 8.
The family paid $13,500 and have no idea if they will be able to get any of the money back.
A third local mother paid about $8000 for her son to go on one of the trips.
She says she believes there’s at least three school groups and one independent group in New Zealand that had been making monthly payments to Actura since late last year for the scheduled trips.
“I’m not aware that of any New Zealand-based trips that have gone ahead yet this year so where have all the New Zealanders’ money gone?
“My son was to go on the Senior Ocean School trip in October.
“I have friends whose children were paying toward the NASA trip and another woman I’ve met whose child was due to leave in three weeks for the Junior Ocean School trip.
“The kids are all devastated.”
Some of the impacted parents have made reports and complaints to police and are dumfounded how the company could have collapsed without warning.
A police spokesperson told the Times: “Police would like to acknowledge the impact this situation has had on a number of people.
“These reports relate to this unfortunate incident and have been assessed by our staff.
“At this stage, based on the information received, the more appropriate course of action will be through civil proceedings.
“Police will be endeavouring to provide those people who filed reports with advice around appropriate channels they could pursue.”
More to come.
