The bad blood Nothing is over between tech boot camp MyTechBestfriend and many of its former students, according to about a dozen people TechCrunch spoke to.
In November, TechCrunch detailed the fallout between Texas-based MTBF founder Mary Awdle and her students. The MTBF program, which costs up to $6,000 and includes canceled courses that can be accessed online at affordable prices, has been accused by students of bullying and harassment. At the time, Awedele told TechCrunch that she could not comment on those allegations “due to the ongoing legal process.”
Since then, Mr. Awedele and those who spoke on the program said that they are fighting to get their money back and that they continue to be harassed.
On her part, Awedele said in a screenshot of her Instagram story posted online by TechCrunch that she plans to change the company’s name in the new year. She also hired Texas-based attorney Kim Dailey and brought in Florida attorney Curt Bender to advise MTBF. Neither Awdle nor Daily responded directly to TechCrunch’s comments, but Bender responded to a set of questions sent to Awdle. Bender said the MTBF has no immediate plans to adopt a new name.
To request a refund, students said they started contacting Stripe, which was spotted by TechCrunch through an invoice from one of MTBF’s payment processors. MTBF then released an Instagram story hoping the new program would be for “Afirm, Klarna or Afterpay kinda person”. MTBF also said it would like to tap into career services and screen prospective students to ensure the new program has a more “mature population.”
#MyTechFallout continues
A major point of contention between Awdle and her students is the fee to participate in MTBF courses. Awele said she would offer refunds to students who want to drop out after the fall by the end of November, although the MTBF, which students signed a course contract for, said no refunds would be made. Students told TechCrunch that the refund process was inconsistent with Mr. Awdell’s promise.
A Nov. 18 email to TechCrunch shows that an MTBF employee, who asked to go by his pseudonym, agreed to return the money to Shay within 10 days. After 10 days, Shay followed up, but MTBF replied: “Hi. Call your bank and please do not email us again. thank you.”
Allegations of cheating on the program also continue to spread. Some students sent TechCrunch their receipts from MTBF, indicating that their transactions were structured as gifts rather than services, which could be a way to avoid paying taxes on the income generated. If these purchases are structured as gifts, it’s a misallocation of income that affects MTBF’s tax return and could land Avelen in serious trouble with the law, including jail time, two financial experts and David Reisher, an attorney at Reisher & Reisher, told TechCrunch. .
Bender MTBF said it was “not aware that the transactions regarding the scholarship were being treated as gifts, and is correcting and correcting the situation.”
According to the correspondence seen by TechCrunch, Awedele threatened to report several students to the loan bureaus in the event of a bank dispute. But Bender said MTBF “didn’t send anybody to the credit bureau” but “engaged with Fidelity Information Corporation on two occasions.”
Victoria, a former student, successfully disputed the MTBF payment with the bank, using a false name for fear of punishment from Awdle. Then she received, according to documents seen by TechCrunch, Fidelity Information Corporation, the debt collector seems to have a letter. The letter, an attempt to recover tuition on behalf of MTBF, sent payments directly to MTBF and listed an address associated with an apartment building in Houston, not FIC in Los Angeles. (Bender said this was due to FIC’s terms of engagement. FIC could not be reached for comment.
Many students continue to report MTBF to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), the FBI, and the IRS, all of which, some students say, have reached out to students regarding the allegations against MTBF. (The IRS declined to comment, the FBI and TWC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) Bender said: “The MTBF is in session. [TWC] Regulatory interest” and “at least one former student says the FBI and FTC have reached out to him.
Students who first came forward with the allegations against MTBF said they are still being harassed. On December 15th, Charlie, a former student, woke up while writing text messages, and someone read that her name was on a jar in Haiti.
“Make sure you pray about the evil in your heart. When a stream of bad luck starts coming your way. Just know that we are. What is done is done. So be it. Ashe,” the text message read, followed by a photo of what appeared to be an item used for voodoo.
“The founder of MTBF is Christian and Nigerian, and neither practice,” Bender told TechCrunch.[s] They don’t participate.[s] In voodoo,” he added, but MTBF uses “hippie-esque practices with students,” including candlelight vigils and personal achievement profiles.
“But there is absolutely nothing against the enemies,” he said.
Charlie Awdele, whose last name has been withheld, believes she gave people her number to harass them. TechCrunch previously reported that Awdle has a team called #MTBFSPECIALFORCES, which she sends out to attack people who oppose her or the company. Two hours after TechCrunch reached out to Audelle and her lawyer for comment, Charlie received a message from Bender, who wrote that MTBF “or its associates” were involved in the threat — a question TechCrunch had made a few hours earlier.
“Please report those threats to law enforcement and MTBF will assist in any investigations,” Bender wrote in an email seen by TechCrunch. Charlie replied, “I’ll see you in court, there’s nothing else to say.”
The voodoo phenomenon has scared many people and added to the fear many students feel about entering the program, a current student told TechCruch, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation from Awdle. Although MTBF is back in session, it is unclear how many students dropped out and how many stayed
A former student named Amber, fearing retribution from Awdle, said of the founder, “She’s a god-complex narcissist who believes she’s untouchable and needs to be shut down.” We won’t stop until she can’t do this to someone else.
