A Mexican student ordered to leave the country by the immigration authorities faces the prospect of returning home without recouping thousands of pounds paid to the man behind a bogus Scottish college.
A Mexican student ordered to leave the country by the immigration authorities faces the prospect of returning home without recouping thousands of pounds paid to the man behind a bogus Scottish college.
Magali Angeles Camacho, 32, paid more than £3000 for a course at a "college" in Glasgow which an investigation by The Herald has exposed as a sham institution.
David Morrison, the man behind the Kelvin Business School (KBS), has vanished owing thousands of pounds to vulnerable students from poor countries around the world.
Police and trading standards officers launched an inquiry into the activities of Mr Morrison, from Cumbernauld, his girlfriend Jin Wang, and KBS last week after The Herald's investigation into the burgeoning unregulated private college industry in Scotland.
One overseas student, Juliana Vasquez, whose parents forwent holidays and sold the family car to raise the money to send her to KBS, was left £1200 out of pocket and stranded in Scotland after Mr Morrison disappeared.
The Herald also uncovered two other Glasgow "colleges" with dubious credentials which falsely claim affiliation to reputable professional organisations in the UK, mislead students with deliberately inaccurate descriptions of their staff and facilities, and offer courses which are of little, if any, worth.
They specifically target overseas students and it is feared that the so-called colleges could be enabling the trafficking of illegal immigrants into Scotland by equipping them with student visas.
Miss Camacho is the latest victim to fall prey to Mr Morrison's sophisticated scam, which involves the use of a professional-looking website.
He then signs them up for courses, some of which do not exist, offering huge discounts if they pay up front with cash.
Miss Camacho, from Morelia, paid Mr Morrison £3404 for a course for an advanced diploma in business administration. When she turned up for the first day of the full-time course at the "college" within the Templeton Business Centre in January she immediately knew something was amiss.
She said: "I was the only person there, except for David. Eventually two other students - I think they were Kenyan - turned up.
"The teacher, who was also African, arrived late then told us there would be no teaching that day. Over the next week it got worse. The teacher was always late and always left early, he never prepared anything, he put things up on the board and never explained a thing.
"When I challenged him and asked him where he was educated and why he did not seem able to teach us anything he became rude and angry and aggressive."
The two African students seemed unconcerned about the quality of the teaching. Miss Camacho said: "I was there because I wanted to learn. They only seemed to be concerned about getting their visa."
After just one week Miss Camacho, who was already in possession of a student visa as she had previously been studying English in Glasgow, was informed by the Home Office that an application for renewal had been denied and she must leave the UK.
She said Mr Morrison gave ger a cheque for the amount owed, but when she went to cash it the bank said he had called ahead to cancel it. The "college" is now locked up.
Speaking from his home in Cumbernauld last night, Mr Morrison's father said: "I don't know where he is. I think he might have gone to China, but I'm not sure."
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