Business Computer Training Institute - BCTI Maltreatment of individuals, No recognition for highly achieving students, ripoff Beaverton Oregon

It has been interesting to read everything that is happening to BCTI. All of this originated because a student came to me and asked me about my thoughts regarding what he read on this website.

I can honestly (and remorsefully) say that before reading the report the student showed me in April of 2004, I'd planned to quietly leave BCTI. I was going to keep my mouth shut. During the same month the Executive Director and I had a conversation about an unrelated topic and she said. "I trust you, the students trust you, and you're a good man". Then I knew what I had to do. I wrote a report here detailing my plans to contact federal agencies, the news media, and ACCET regarding their business practices.

I was terminated by BCTI shortly after the transition to BCES (Business Career Employment Services) 2 weeks after my report here. I stupidly admitted to employees I trusted what I wrote here. One of the employees was a member of my Career Services team who for lack of a better phrase stabbed me in the back by telling superiors of my plans. It wasn't Rachel.

The words one of the V.P.s used to terminate me was, "We feel you are not right for BCES". I asked what I'd done and was told, "We just feel you are no longer the right fit for BCES". LOL gee I wonder why!!!

I applied for unemployment because my new job didn't begin for 3 weeks. My unemployment was denied because BCTI reported I was late for work 3 times. Yes 3 times!!! BCTI has a history of denying an ex employees unemployment and Washington State Employment services usually sides with the employer in most cases. BCTI actually attempted to sue me because of what I wrote on the ripoffreport and claimed I had resumes of students and BCTI reports I'd planned to show to news agencies and federal government. Thanksgiving of last year I was thrown in jail for 4 days because I didn't pay a 2K judgment to BCTI. Unbelievable yes, but very true.

THAT IS NOT WHY I'M HERE TODAY. And allow me to make this clear. I don't seek restitution or any monies attorneys feel I'm owed. I'm NOT GOING AFTER anything.

I was excited when I accepted the offer of employment BCTI gave me in 2003. I'd worked in the technology industry and was a manager of a recruiting agency for years. I thought I could FINALLY contribute to society instead of simply living in it.

After being employed for 4 months I began to see what was going on behind the veil. Students, who had no business graduating, graduated. Students completed Phase II that couldn't do something as simple as use monster.com. Students finished Phase II that couldn't build a computer to save their life. Students who CLEARLY didn't have the skills necessary to meet the needs of today's employers (BCTI mission statement) were allowed to graduate and my team had to find a way to get them a job/career. I visited many job fairs and talked to employers that wouldn't talk to me because I represented BCTI students. 3 good friends of mine who worked in hiring manager positions at Microsoft, Adobe Software, and Surreal Software admitted to me that they'd never hire a BCTI student because the students aren't trained well. During a job fair in May of 2004 a hiring manager from AT&T walked away from me when I told her I work for BCTI and was representing students.

The corporate office reported to ACCET and other agencies that students employed in fast food jobs, movie theatres, home based businesses, and gas stations were employed in jobs using the skills they learned at BCTI. I was considered not doing my job with a report called the missing document report. For this report I purposely did not obtain documentation on students employed in the above careers so BCTI could report those individuals had jobs using their BCTI skills. I witnessed my BCES manager coerce a student to sign a document (Skills statement) detailing they feel they were using their BCTI skills. That individual was a truck driver. He is still employed in the same industry upon enrolling at BCTI!!! He was coerced by saying because he tracks his miles on a spreadsheet, he is using his skills. He is a graduate of Phase II and is probably trying to pay off a 15K or more loan yet he is employed by the SAME company during his initial enrollment.

For my part in BCTI I truly apologize to all students. I will help in anyway possible to assist you in the class action lawsuit. I'm contacting the class action attorneys and I've been interviewed by reporters.

Yes I know some students have later found great jobs with great companies however they are the exception and not the rule. Only 10% - 15% of graduates have gone on to great jobs. I see them from time to time. In my personal opinion these students didn't need a school such as BCTI. My opinion comes from my experience as a technical and executive recruiter for 6 years before my employment as Director of Career Services at BCTI.

Allow me to deflate those loyal to the Church of New Song (you know what I'm talking about) and to those loyal to Tom and Morrie. This is not about revenge (recall my first ripoffreport was WEEKS before my termination). It's about no longer letting you get away with saying you are Christians and ripping off the unemployed, the destitute, the homeless, the handicapped, and those looking for a better life.

When I drive by the old Tacoma campus, I smile.

Judge OKs class action suit against tech school

David Wickert: The News Tribune
Published: November 19th, 2005 02:30 AM

***
Abstract:
Larkin's ruling opens the lawsuit to students of BCTI's Washington campuses who attended as far back as 1985.
***

Full Text:

A Pierce County judge has cleared the way for a class action lawsuit against a for-profit career school that closed last March amid allegations it preyed on low-income students.

Friday's ruling means thousands of former students of the Gig Harbor-based Business Computer Training Institute potentially could enter the lawsuit.

Already nearly 50 former students have joined, claiming they were misled about the quality of the education BCTI provided and their prospects for a job after graduation.

Many were recruited outside welfare or unemployment offices and claim they were promised good-paying technology jobs if they completed BCTI programs.

Those programs, which taught basic word processing, spreadsheets and other computer skills, cost about $11,000 for a 30-week program.

Many students used taxpayer-backed loans to pay for their education. But some claim their BCTI education didn't prepare them for even basic office work, leaving them with few employment prospects but thousands of dollars in debt.

In opposing the class-action certification, BCTI argued that students got out of the program what they put into it. About 28,000 students have graduated from BCTI's Washington campuses since 1985, and many have gone on to successful careers at prominent companies, the school argued in court filings.

The school also claimed students didn't get jobs for reasons unrelated to BCTI, including not looking for work and quitting jobs the school helped them get.

It claimed the students have presented no evidence they were coerced to enroll. And it argued the students' claims were varied and conflicting and that a class-action lawsuit would be inappropriate.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Larkin didn't buy it. In an order issued Friday, he found the students' claims to be similar enough to certify the lawsuit as a class action. He also found the plaintiffs have set forth substantial evidence that they will prevail at trial.

A trial is tentatively scheduled for next August.

Larkin's ruling opens the lawsuit to students of BCTI's Washington campuses who attended as far back as 1985.

BCTI closed its seven campuses in Washington and Oregon on March 14 amid state investigations in Washington and Oregon. A Washington investigation found evidence that falsified admissions tests allowed unqualified students to get financial aid.

A broader Oregon investigation concluded that BCTI misled students, enrolled students who couldn't benefit from its programs and reported inaccurate graduation and job-placement statistics to the state.

Hmmm...So let me ask you this. Why do you bother to work if you don't want to collect assets? Isn't that why people went to BCTI in hopes to have a better future? In other words, have a better income and acquire things they couldn't have? Everyone does it. So don't put me in a place that no one else cares about all those things. About trampling others? It's a cruel world out there. Someday I might get trampled on as well, BUT that doesn't mean I'll sit around and whine (like some people in this post). I would fight back and trample them back.

If you didn't think about about amassing any riches, you're lying. At least I'm honest (I'm a pure Capitalist). Don't go pretending you're this Saviour that these poor ex-BCTI students needed. Have your own aspirations and if not, well, that means your living life without a goal. Don't tell us that you're working because it completes your well-being and you're going to give all your earnings to the poor. That's crap.

And as far as BCTI getting of rid of me? Obviously you'll need to research more on that. I left the company a month before it close down. At that point I already had two job offers. Before you post those nonsense comments, set your story straight. I can back my story, remember Xiaobing? He'll tell up what's up! Hehe.

Darcie, I still want to know where you're impeccable language skills have gotten you? You were so busy ripping my previous posts and I'm sure you're going to rip this too.

And Gabe, anything is possible when you put your mind into it. Don't get into this mode of trying to blame the system. The system will screw you, but if don't learn from it, it will keep on screwing you. You live in a corrupt society. You either have to learn to with it or around it. You pick. People will get ripped off (just look at the domain name of this site). I got ripped off from Ebay and do I whine? No! I was pissed and now I know better.

PS

This is so much fun! Are you having fun yet?

Hmmm...So let me ask you this. Why do you bother to work if you don't want to collect assets? Isn't that why people went to BCTI in hopes to have a better future? In other words, have a better income and acquire things they couldn't have? Everyone does it. So don't put me in a place that no one else cares about all those things. About trampling others? It's a cruel world out there. Someday I might get trampled on as well, BUT that doesn't mean I'll sit around and whine (like some people in this post). I would fight back and trample them back.

If you didn't think about about amassing any riches, you're lying. At least I'm honest (I'm a pure Capitalist). Don't go pretending you're this Saviour that these poor ex-BCTI students needed. Have your own aspirations and if not, well, that means your living life without a goal. Don't tell us that you're working because it completes your well-being and you're going to give all your earnings to the poor. That's crap.

And as far as BCTI getting of rid of me? Obviously you'll need to research more on that. I left the company a month before it close down. At that point I already had two job offers. Before you post those nonsense comments, set your story straight. I can back my story, remember Xiaobing? He'll tell up what's up! Hehe.

Darcie, I still want to know where you're impeccable language skills have gotten you? You were so busy ripping my previous posts and I'm sure you're going to rip this too.

And Gabe, anything is possible when you put your mind into it. Don't get into this mode of trying to blame the system. The system will screw you, but if don't learn from it, it will keep on screwing you. You live in a corrupt society. You either have to learn to with it or around it. You pick. People will get ripped off (just look at the domain name of this site). I got ripped off from Ebay and do I whine? No! I was pissed and now I know better.

PS

This is so much fun! Are you having fun yet?

Hmmm...So let me ask you this. Why do you bother to work if you don't want to collect assets? Isn't that why people went to BCTI in hopes to have a better future? In other words, have a better income and acquire things they couldn't have? Everyone does it. So don't put me in a place that no one else cares about all those things. About trampling others? It's a cruel world out there. Someday I might get trampled on as well, BUT that doesn't mean I'll sit around and whine (like some people in this post). I would fight back and trample them back.

If you didn't think about about amassing any riches, you're lying. At least I'm honest (I'm a pure Capitalist). Don't go pretending you're this Saviour that these poor ex-BCTI students needed. Have your own aspirations and if not, well, that means your living life without a goal. Don't tell us that you're working because it completes your well-being and you're going to give all your earnings to the poor. That's crap.

And as far as BCTI getting of rid of me? Obviously you'll need to research more on that. I left the company a month before it close down. At that point I already had two job offers. Before you post those nonsense comments, set your story straight. I can back my story, remember Xiaobing? He'll tell up what's up! Hehe.

Darcie, I still want to know where you're impeccable language skills have gotten you? You were so busy ripping my previous posts and I'm sure you're going to rip this too.

And Gabe, anything is possible when you put your mind into it. Don't get into this mode of trying to blame the system. The system will screw you, but if don't learn from it, it will keep on screwing you. You live in a corrupt society. You either have to learn to with it or around it. You pick. People will get ripped off (just look at the domain name of this site). I got ripped off from Ebay and do I whine? No! I was pissed and now I know better.

PS

This is so much fun! Are you having fun yet?

Hmmm...So let me ask you this. Why do you bother to work if you don't want to collect assets? Isn't that why people went to BCTI in hopes to have a better future? In other words, have a better income and acquire things they couldn't have? Everyone does it. So don't put me in a place that no one else cares about all those things. About trampling others? It's a cruel world out there. Someday I might get trampled on as well, BUT that doesn't mean I'll sit around and whine (like some people in this post). I would fight back and trample them back.

If you didn't think about about amassing any riches, you're lying. At least I'm honest (I'm a pure Capitalist). Don't go pretending you're this Saviour that these poor ex-BCTI students needed. Have your own aspirations and if not, well, that means your living life without a goal. Don't tell us that you're working because it completes your well-being and you're going to give all your earnings to the poor. That's crap.

And as far as BCTI getting of rid of me? Obviously you'll need to research more on that. I left the company a month before it close down. At that point I already had two job offers. Before you post those nonsense comments, set your story straight. I can back my story, remember Xiaobing? He'll tell up what's up! Hehe.

Darcie, I still want to know where you're impeccable language skills have gotten you? You were so busy ripping my previous posts and I'm sure you're going to rip this too.

And Gabe, anything is possible when you put your mind into it. Don't get into this mode of trying to blame the system. The system will screw you, but if don't learn from it, it will keep on screwing you. You live in a corrupt society. You either have to learn to with it or around it. You pick. People will get ripped off (just look at the domain name of this site). I got ripped off from Ebay and do I whine? No! I was pissed and now I know better.

PS

This is so much fun! Are you having fun yet?

Gabe,

He answered both of our questions, quite clearly. He is only concerned with amassing great hoards of material possessions, in an effort to prove his worth, trampling others along the way.

I am surprise BCTI management was so adamant about getting rid of him when he so closely resembles their business model.

Gabe,

He answered both of our questions, quite clearly. He is only concerned with amassing great hoards of material possessions, in an effort to prove his worth, trampling others along the way.

I am surprise BCTI management was so adamant about getting rid of him when he so closely resembles their business model.

Gabe,

He answered both of our questions, quite clearly. He is only concerned with amassing great hoards of material possessions, in an effort to prove his worth, trampling others along the way.

I am surprise BCTI management was so adamant about getting rid of him when he so closely resembles their business model.

Gabe,

He answered both of our questions, quite clearly. He is only concerned with amassing great hoards of material possessions, in an effort to prove his worth, trampling others along the way.

I am surprise BCTI management was so adamant about getting rid of him when he so closely resembles their business model.

As all can see, ladies and gentlemen, one of my instructors at BCTI. Good job Jon. Way to really make a difference.

So, what will you show us next. Will you be the first to get an X-Box 360?

Hey, look at some of the stuff I got:
Morals
Ethics (and a good sense there of)
Respect from my peers (and for myself)
Dignity
...and a few things that DARCIE taught me and, obviously, you didn't.

Man, I'm glad I'm not a little brat like you.

Back to the subject at hand though - I have joined with the class action suit here in Portland and plan to go as far as I can with it. I am also getting advice from some of the lawyers I work with on this issue. Some of them have been following the case, and while in a very unbiased position, they all agree that BCTI screwed things up and should pay.

Again Jon, you have not answered my question really. You believe that waht BCTI did is "just business as usual"? You poor man.

I earn more than you (as a Technical Account Manager).
I own a house (having it rented $$$) and soon two (will buy it from my in-laws; which is only a 5-year old house). How? using the equity from from first house.

I have two cars (4-Runner Limited and a Forester. And planning to trade my Forester (it's all paid off) for a new one.

Have several 401K plans from previous jobs. It did include BCTI, but they cancelled it :(

And I'll include my cool son in here :)

I guess I'll trade my bad typing/grammar skills for this any day.

Where has your good grammar skills taken you? Let me see what you got!

"I bet you would chat and say "hey, lol is not work" or "ASL" you can't use that! "

What??

" Darcie, you didn't report it and left the company. You left and then reported. "

You don't know WHAT I reported or WHEN I reported it. So you are in no position to tell ME which came first.

"Anyways, until you prove to me that you are graduate from an IVY League school with a English Doctorate, you can't critic grammars on chats. This is not a formal report."

So your "grammars" rule applies to you but not other people in this forum? My point was that you are criticing the grammar of others without the ability to piece together a coherant sentence yourself.

Posted on 8/31/05

"You Didn't Get A Job Because...

You can't spell worth sh*t...ah...I mean stuff. Forgot you can't say that according to the Pro-Grow class you supposedly passed. I got a question for you, how many ways can you spell GUARANTEE AND GAURANTEED?
Missrepresented
havent
they (needs CAPS) told us to lie on applications saying that we could ten key, when we hadnt (needs apostrophe) even learned how yet.

These are just some samples of why you didn't get hired for any office positions. So QWET YER WHINNING!

Who cares? I'm typing to get my message across (kinda like chatting?) Who cares about grammar on "chat rooms" I bet you would chat and say "hey, lol is not work" or "ASL" you can't use that! Because no one gives a rat azz about it, let's continue to the topic. Darcie, you didn't report it and left the company. You left and then reported. And yes YOU DID ignore those allegations you made while you were employed. You and I discussed it how some of those could ever move one when they couldn't type a simple resume. But yet you created their resume for them. I didn't say what they was right, I just couldn't leave because I couldn't abandon my students. Unlike you. Anyways, until you prove to me that you are graduate from an IVY League school with a English Doctorate, you can't critic grammars on chats. This is not a formal report.

Your comments about writing skills getting in the way of a successful job search are horribly ironic. You were able to find a job and each sentence you write is a train wreck.

Your argument is weak. You say you weren't for the unethical business practices, but you stayed long past the point the company was found guilty of breaking state and federal laws. They were guilty of taking advantage of the elderly and those who weren't fit to make good decisions for themselves. They lied. They stole money from students and tax payers in the process. You supported the unethical practices by remaining employed there.

You are right Jon, they did pay my bills. And I believed in what I was doing for a long time. But I wasn't able to look the other way when I saw students being taken advantage of. So I reported them and I left. The investigation uncovered far more than I could ever have imagined. All the while you and the others stayed. I wonder to this day how you live with yourselves.

Don't you know that if you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the problem? It appears that you enjoy being part of the problem, why else would someone come here and trying to rub faces in the dirt. You didn't lose a god damned thing. So how do you feel justified telling these people that they need to pick themselves up by the boots straps and "get over it"?

I don't condone what BCTI management did. It was wrong and unethical. In fact, I made the complains and comments to management and yet they ignored it. Now, these Deans or DIs or whatever they are called had to follow their supervisors (which left them in a stalemate).
I don't blame them at all.It would have been easier to just have quit instead convincing management to change. But because of the way the job market has been, it was hard to get a new job. If all these ex-employees were all about doing the right thing, then why did we not quit the moment BCTI was exposed to the press? Well, because we need to pay some bills. Bills like you and the rest of us are paying. And some still believe in the system and some did it for the students.
I hope the the courts will do justice for the students, I really do. But for the instructors or ex-exmployees, don't tell the students "oh, I knew all along BCTI was a corrupt company" and then bash BCTI's name and remained on their payroll.
For me, I stuck it trough the end until I had to leave because of a death in the family. But when the company was phasing out enrollments and students still remained in school hoping to graduate, I didn't quit on them. I stayed with them no matter what the Oregonian said, because I knew what I was teaching them in Phase II was real. You may not get a a legitimate diploma for it, but the skills and knowledge were there. And I urged them to use those skills at school that is stable and more reputable. And all along I knew the allegations were true, but in the classroom I had to make it right for my students.

... that a person who took out a loan that the directors of the school recieved as payment and live well off of (which evidence is slowly showing they "stole" or got in a devious manner) should go ahead and keep paying our loans? Even if it is proven that these federal funds were gotten in unethical means.

Are some of you actually saying that this is OK? What capitalism is all about? ...and some of you were "instructors"?

One thing I did learn in BCTI was some ethics and this is not ethical - as per the teachings of BCTI.

Oh well. I'm just a mirror of my educators. If this is the game, then I'm in. If I am doing something "wrong" and "unethical" by following through on a suit to gain some money to pay off the remainder of my Stafford loan (which was recieved by BCTI and went to further the lives of the two directors) than that is the karma spun into the universe by BCTI's practices.

Man, I'm in California right now just chillin' in my hotel room and thought hmm...wonder if people still post stuff on this site...and oh you guys still do. You guys stop crying about it. Okay, so you got roped into something that you thought was real. But it shouldn't have taken you 7 months and then some to figure that the program wouldn't work for you. Some people dropped and disappeared. For them, that was a smart thing to do. For us ex-instructors it wasn't good 'cause then management makes try to make them come back.
NEWS FLASH! Overpromise...underdeliver happens everwhere and it happens everyday. We all live it. So accept it. You can't fix it. Business breaths to make profit NOT to give customers ALL they want. Then why not just give it for FREE.

I don't know what the status is on those two co-prez, but whatever they did they'll pay somehow. But YOU getting you money back? I would hold by breath.

Darcie, don't be so naive about all these things. The school you so hate, PAID your bills. And I'm willing to bet it helped got to where you are now. I don't think working as a waitress at bar would have further your career. I mean cool you got a new job, but don't make it like they didn't do anything for you.

And NO, I'm not defending BCTI! I'm saying they paid my bills too and I could say I learned how to teach which helped me got this job that I am doing now.

BCTI taught Life Skills. One of them is when you get screwed, live with your mistakes and move on.

According to all of the investigations Tom and Morrie are the greedy individuals.

According to all of the investigations Tom and Morrie are the greedy individuals.

According to all of the investigations Tom and Morrie are the greedy individuals.

According to all of the investigations Tom and Morrie are the greedy individuals.

See - you can lie around and complain, or you can do something abut it.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5061657p-4614391c.html

Judge orders assets seized in lawsuit vs. school

DAVID WICKERT; The News Tribune
Published: July 30th, 2005 12:01 AM

A lawsuit brought by former students has yielded new allegations of mismanagement at a for-profit computer school that closed in March.
In court records, a former employee of the Business Computer Training Institute claims its owners set up a series of related companies to enrich themselves, avoid taxes and maintain a steady flow of federal financial aid dollars to the school.

BCTI's owners, Tom Jonez and Morrie Pigott of Gig Harbor, dispute the allegations. They say the charges come from a disgruntled employee who lost his job.

But a Pierce County Superior Court judge, relying in part on the employee's claims, has issued an order to seize $300,000 in assets from BCTI's owners and the companies they founded a move that could allow the students to collect some money if their lawsuit is successful.

I find it likely that the plaintiffs in this case will prevail on some, if not all of their claims, Judge Thomas Larkin wrote in the June 30 order.

Larkin's decision is the latest in a series of setbacks for BCTI and its owners.

The school closed its campuses five in Washington and two in Oregon March 11, after state regulators questioned recruiting, record keeping and other practices and after a former student filed a lawsuit in Pierce County Superior Court.

Since then the lawsuit has grown to include 49 former students who are suing for breach of contract and violations of consumer protection law. They are seeking to recoup tuition costs and other damages.

BCTI taught basic computer skills and bookkeeping, workplace etiquette and job-search skills. The school charged about $11,000 for a 30-week program, plus a similar amount for a second program focused on more-advanced computer skills.

Some former students including the plaintiffs and others say the education wasn't worth it.

They say the program provided the kind of basic computer training they could get from a book. They say BCTI officials promised a program leading to high-paying jobs, though some wound up working in retail stores and fast-food restaurants after graduation. And they say BCTI recruiters preyed on welfare recipients, the homeless and other vulnerable targets.

In February, an Oregon Department of Education investigation concluded that BCTI misled students about its program, admitted students who could not benefit from the training and submitted inaccurate graduation and job-placement statistics to the state. The agency put BCTI on probation.

Washington investigators found evidence of falsified admission tests that allowed unqualified students to receive financial aid. They also found BCTI representatives illegally recruited too close to an unemployment office in Olympia.

And in April, the nonprofit agency that accredits BCTI barred Jonez and Pigott from operating accredited schools, citing substandard graduation and job placement rates, reporting violations and questionable recruiting practices.

Jonez and Pigott have declined repeated requests to comment on the claims. But they have denied wrongdoing in correspondence with investigators.

Now the students' lawsuit has yielded new allegations. Miles Goda, a former BCTI financial analyst, says in court records that Jonez and Pigott shifted BCTI income much of it financial aid for students among eight corporations they owned.

The other companies charged BCTI for a variety of services, including management services, advertising and financial aid processing. Goda contends Jonez and Pigott used these affiliated companies to siphon assets from the school, while occasionally shoring up BCTI's finances to comply with U.S. Department of Education rules. By manipulating company assets, Goda claims, BCTI's owners were able to keep the student loan money coming in.

Goda also claims Jonez and Pigott manipulated BCTI income to reduce their companies' taxes and took tax deductions for vacations on which little or no business was conducted.

Goda says he was terminated from BCTI in 1998 for financial reasons. He now is a vice president at WatchGuard Technologies, a Seattle company specializing in computer security.

Some of Goda's claims are backed by James Stremme, a former accountant for one BCTI-related company and now controller at the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. In court statements, Stremme claims he was asked to process business expenses that I knew were completely unjustifiable, including more than $10,000 to charter three yachts for a week. Stremme believed the expenses were for personal use only.

The new accusations played an important role in the students' request for a court order seizing the assets of BCTI-related companies and the personal assets of Jonez and Pigott.

The students' attorneys argued that Jonez and Pigott had drained BCTI of assets, leaving it unable to pay its debts, including a possible future judgment for the students. And they argued that the pair in recent months had tried to hide assets by transferring ownership of their homes and other property to corporations they owned and to Jonez's brother.

In a May court hearing, BCTI attorney Kevin Bay argued that Goda has no evidence to back his claims, which he said are so vague his clients can't respond to them in detail.

In court statements, other BCTI employees also dispute Goda's claims. His supervisor, Lori Slehoffer, said she had to teach Goda how to reconcile financial statements each month.

Slehoffer said transactions between companies were proper. And she said she is not aware of any instances in which the companies improperly reduced their taxes or in which Jonez and Pigott took improper tax deductions. She also said she was not aware of any improper financial reporting to the U.S. Department of Education.

In response to questions submitted by The News Tribune, Jonez and Pigott issued a statement that they're confident a full review of the facts will show that Mr. Goda's statements are simply not true.

In its 23-year history, BCTI has graduated nearly 35,000 students and we are proud of the contributions they have made to the Northwest and U.S. economy, the statement said. It saddens us to see the company characterized so unfairly by a disgruntled former employee.

As to accusations they attempted to shield personal assets from liability, Jonez and Pigott have claimed they transferred their homes and other property for estate planning purposes.

Larkin found that explanation unpersuasive. He issued a writ of attachment of $300,000 against the BCTI-affiliated corporations and the personal assets of Jonez and Pigott. The students had sought a writ of more than $1 million.

In issuing the order, Larkin noted substantial evidence that Jonez and Pigott intermingled business and personal assets and then siphoned those assets away from the corporation.

A trial on the students' claims is tentatively scheduled for March.

David Wickert: 253-274-7341

david.wickert@thenewstribune.com

You don't want money, but you want your student loans forgived? Sounds like money to me.

Shame on you, and I am hoping Tom and Morrie make it through this awful mess of greedy individuals.