About 20 parents have come forward saying they have lost thousands of dollars after Actura New Zealand’s collapse, while a former employee said they haven’t been paid for more than a month.

One Auckland father who wished to remain anonymous said the Case Space School Programme sold his teenage son a dream their family couldn’t provide.

“He has worked nights, evenings, all over summer to contribute to it and help pay for it. He earned more than $1000 but now it has just gone.

“From our point of view, it took our money and left us with nothing.”

Actura charged up to $13,000 for children from 25 New Zealand schools to attend a two-week Case Space School Programme at the Nasa headquarters in Houston, Texas.

However, parents received an email yesterday morning from company boss Charles Chung saying Actura Australia had gone into liquidation and the 2024 and 2025 international study programmes - including Case Space School, Case Ocean School and Case Film & Arts School expeditions - were cancelled.

The father learned of the programme through his son’s school and it was billed as a “once in a lifetime” experience.

“They said there needed to be a minimum of 20 people for it to go ahead but said if you wanted to be in, you had to secure a spot.”

The family had already paid $13,000 before they received the cancellation email.

He said the brutal experience had left their son devastated.

“He was dead excited to go and sacrificed a lot. His friends were doing fun stuff with his friends because he was at work and now he is getting nothing for it.”

Another Auckland parent who did not wish to be named said he paid $9000 for his teenage daughter to attend Case Ocean School next month.

“We received the information from our school and thought it would be very great so didn’t think too much about it.”

He said he and his wife thought they could afford to send their daughter on the course.

“Our daughter is okay, but for us, now that everything is more expensive, for the next few weeks, we are facing some financial hardship.”

The Herald has received about 20 emails from other families who are also out of pocket by the company’s sudden demise. Most have lost between $9000 and $13,000.

‘No pay, no job. Just cut on Friday afternoon’

A former Actura employee, who did not wish to be named, told the Herald they only found out about the closure in a company-wide Zoom meeting on Friday afternoon.

“We were blindsided by this. It’s not something we were aware of.”

Distraught staff members have now spent the weekend on the phone with parents and teachers.

“The company advised us to cease all communication but that didn’t sit right,” they said.

“We took it upon ourselves to speak to parents and teachers. The least we can do is to talk to them.”

They said all the employees were still in shock and felt powerless as to what they could do.

“For our peace of mind and integrity, it is important to answer these calls.”

However, they said employees have also been left stranded by the sudden closure.

“We have lost our jobs and we haven’t been paid for the last month.

“Friday was payday and we haven’t been paid. No pay, no job. Just cut on Friday afternoon.”

Actura Australia has taken down its website and Facebook pages.

The Herald attempted to email the company however received the response: “Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, Actura has ceased all operations. This inbox is no longer monitored.”

The Herald has attempted to contact several of the schools associated with the programme.

David Williams is an Auckland-based multimedia journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.