They're definitely up to something, R.

The key to money laundering is hiding the ACTIVITY, not the money you get from that activity. The'problem' is how to put dirty money to work so it looks like it was aquired legally.

Back in the 1960's, the mob, based mainly in Chicago and NYC, ruled Las Vegas. Why? Because they could hide all the money they got through criminal activities in casinos. It was easy. They just took trunk-loads of ill-begotten loot out to Vegas, dump the stacks in casino piles, and claimed it all came from gamblers. No one could prove otherwise, as no records were ever kept of how much each gambler actually dropped on his or visits to the slots. They paid tax on the loot as 'casino income' and were thus able to keep peering eyes away from what was going on back in Chicago and NYC.

It could be the same at this school you're talking about. Someone could EASILY invent phantom students in a private school in Thailand, complete with bogus accounting records of tuition each phantom student paid. An antiquated beauracracy and incompetent officals insure no one looks in the obvious places, let alone the not-so-obvious places, that folks can hide money. Loopholes are huge in Thailand.

Why do you think all these TESOL and TEFL training centers have flocked to Thailand? It's easy to get away with hiding money here. If you hide your money in Thailand, you get to keep the significant portion you'd be giving the host government all for yourself. Nice motive. You just need a front to pull it off. A front just like your school. Your school could indeed be a Thailand version of a Vegas casino back in the 60s.