I think we all agree on one thing : it was a stupid idea to pay the whole course upfront. But I'm sure the telecoms saleswoman did her job very well and made it look like the brightest idea for a highway to an A320 right seat. Don't forget they got a 400'000€ subvention from the government, and I don't think they would have got it without working hard to make the company LOOK good.
The guys think that because PTC obtained the approval from the IAA means the IAA is responsible for their loss, which can be true. But think about it : students lost 80Ks each, but the IAA lost 400K€ ! They have a chance to fight along with the IAA against the one who is really responsible for what happened, but they choose to argue with their ally !
With regards to how PTC lost so much money, I can't believe a flight school that has so many students can ever lose a single cent. They never allow you to "spend" money that they don't have on your student account, which means they don't spend money they don't have (knowing they weren't paying their bills, they didn't spend money at all).
On top of this, as you pay for a "0 to frozen ATPL" package, all the costs are "rounded up" with extraordinary margins.
As an example :the students are sent to FL for the weather (which is **** the whole summer) AND for the lower costs of flight time in the US. HOWEVER, a Piper Seminole costs 330USD/h if rented to FIT. PTC had us paying around 500 EUROS per hour. 25 hours of Seminole in the US per student, 200 students in, I'll let you do the maths. The same thing applies to accomodations and other planes. If they're not making billions of profit, no one else does and even Ryanair is bankrupt.
Now, if you look at it, you will find out that the CEO HHTGCFL (His Highness The Greatest Captain For Life) Mike Edgeworth, who has flown as much as 400~500 hours in a Hawker jet (don't hide it, I know you're impressed) created several different ghost companies doing NOTHING, some of them based in a nice condo 1437 Pineapple avenue, Melbourne, FL, and that he seems to have invested in real estate in Florida. If you don't see the link, don't even go to a class 1 medical examination, you're blind.
To sum this up :
PTC owes money to :
- FIT for 1M€
- the IAA for 400K€
- the students for an unknown amount of money
The money has "disappeared" and the company has 10M€ in debt, but the CEO has plenty of money.
There must be a black hole somewhere, absorbing any euro or dollar floating around. And if that's the case, it will be proven as soon as the Justice investigates the accounts of PTC.