Flared up over college shutdown

Students of ACCA block Karakoram Highway, blame alma mater of fraud.

HARIPUR:

The students of a private accountancy college in Abbottabad staged a protest on Thursday after the administration closed the institution overnight and fled.

“They blocked the Karakoram Highway and broke into the college but the patron had already fled with books and valuables,” said one of the students.

The City College of Accountancy and Professional Study (CCAPS) was established in 2007. The college patron, Ghulam Abbas Taimoor, admitted over 100 students to a programme culminating in a diploma of Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA).

The institution, affiliated with the UK-based association, collected Rs100,000 annually from each student as examination and tuition fees for the external programme.

It was in December 2011 that problems arose, when some of the students were denied entry for the exams. They  were told that their examination fees had not been deposited.

“We paid £70 as admission fee when we were selected by the college,” said Imran, showing the admission card issued by the ACCA.

He added that all the students paid their examination fees to the CCAPS regularly but the patron had swindled them and fled the city after closing the college.

The students lodged a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) office Abbottabad, where Inspector Arshad advised them to contact FIA headquarters.

The owner of the building, Dr Khalid, confirmed that the patron had secretly closed down the college without paying him three months’ rent amounting to Rs275,000.

The college patron could not be contacted for his comments because his  mobile phone was switched off.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2012.