Parents who contacted the company said they had yet to hear back, while a call by the Post went unanswered.

Athena Chiu said she had signed her daughter up for six months of tutorial classes, worth HK$12,240 (US$1,570), at the Kornhill Garden branch. The lessons were supposed to start on August 1, she added.

The company’s closure came as a complete shock to Chiu, who said staff had frequently contacted her several days beforehand and offered discounts in hopes she would buy more classes.

“It is clear now that it was a last-ditch effort for them to cheat one final sum of money off of us, because how could they not have known by then they were about to shut down?” she said.

The mother added that parents observed classes at the Kornhill Garden centre were still running as normal until Saturday morning. Staff had locked the doors by the afternoon and no one responded to parents outside who had come looking for confirmation after word had spread about the closure, she added.

A fast-growing WhatsApp group set up by customers and staff on Saturday night had attracted about 555 members by 5pm on Sunday.

Many parents on the platform said they were unsure how to get their money back since they had paid months in advance for their children’s summer classes and lesson packages.

Some customers had spent as much as HK$28,920 on private tuition packages, which also covered extras such as field trips and were paid up to seven months in advance.

Sonia Wong, who bought HK$12,880 worth of lessons running from September to February for her child, said she learned via social media the company was closing its door.

“Margaret was still calling me around two weeks ago to ask me to sign up for more classes,” Wong said, referring to the listed head of Brilliant Education, Margaret Pang Tse-tung.

“She would call late in the night, like at 10pm. I remember telling her not to work so hard, which I regret now.”

Wong said she had already reported the case to police and the Customs and Excise Department.

Photos on social media showed police officers arriving at the Kornhill Garden branch alongside housing estate staff from Hang Lung Properties.

An Education Bureau spokesman said it was not notified of Brilliant Education’s closure and added there was no record of registration for the branch in Homantin Plaza.

The bureau expressed concerns about the situation, saying it would respond appropriately if the company was found to be in breach of the Education Ordinance.

Authorities also reminded the public to exercise their rights and interests when enrolling in private tuition courses, such as paying fees on a monthly basis and retaining receipts as evidence for requesting refunds.

The Consumer Council said it had received one complaint so far in relation to the closure. It added that customers who paid by credit card could apply for refunds from their banks, but warned success would “depend on various factors”.

The council also reminded the public to avoid paying large sums in advance for private classes.

About a dozen Brilliant Education employees also said they were each owed wages up to tens of thousands of dollars, including a full-time teacher who claimed he was HK$74,400 out of pocket.

A part-time teacher with the company, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity, said he was owed a “five-figure” salary after working on an hourly basis.

The company had also refused to offer him a contract upon request in the past, he added.

“We actually warned some of the parents when they came to pick their children up that the centre seemed to be in severe financial trouble because many of the staff faced wage delays or were not being paid at all,” the teacher said. “But a lot of customers had already paid for classes in advance, so they were stuck.”

He said the company kept telling staff that new investors were expected to come on board soon.

“Honestly, I stopped believing them after a while. I just kept going to work because I was worried the children would be without a teacher, and I didn’t want to add more burden to other staff,” he said.

A former teacher surnamed Ng who left Brilliant Education in late 2019 said this year was not the first time the company had faced financial woes.

Ng, who joined the company in September 2018, said it initially failed to set up a Mandatory Provident Fund account or contribute payments for several months until he raised the issue.

“They eventually opened an account for me, but stopped paying into it again after a while,” he said. The former teacher added that some colleagues had faced the same situation at the time.

Pension regulator the Mandatory Provident Fund Authority on Sunday evening said it was aware of reports from more Brilliant Education staff that the company had continued to fall behind on MPF contributions and would file a civil lawsuit against the tutoring group on behalf of the employees.

Additional reporting by Danny Mok