Chinese charged over test-taking scam
by Khanathit Srihirundaj
A scam of a different kind has been uncovered today. In this case no one was being harmed but the system was being cheated.
The Nation reports that Thai police have arrested seven Chinese who were allegedly hired to take ACT (American College Testing) exams on behalf of other test-takers who wanted good results in order to apply to study in the United States.
The first batch of five suspects – Chinese nationals between the ages of 29 and 33 – were arrested on Friday afternoon at the ACT examination site at Mahidol University’s Salaya Campus in Nakhon Pathom.
The five suspects reportedly confessed to police that they had been hired to take the ACT exams on behalf of the real applicants for between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan (about 47,500-95,000 baht) per person.
They said a China-based agency had helped coordinate with the customers and arranged for their accommodation, travel expenses and fake passports – containing the real applicants’ details, but with the suspects’ photos – to undertake the task.
They were to get good results in the exam, discard the fake passports and travel back to their home countries, police quoted them as saying.
The second batch of two suspects – Chinese nationals 28 year old He Liu and 39 year old Huang Xiofan were arrested on Saturday at the ACT examination site at NIST International School in Bangkok’s Watthana district.
Police also found that Liu was carrying eight fake passports, and he reportedly confessed to having previously taken exams for hire in various countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The seven suspects, whose Thai visas have been revoked, were all charged with using forged passports, while Liu faces the additional charge of having fake passports in his possession for the purpose of selling them, Surachate said.
STORY: The Nation
