Seven Chinese charged over using fake passports in test-taking scam

By Khanathit Srihirundaj 
The Nation

 

 

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, Immigration Police Bureau chief Pol Lt-Gen Surachate Hakparn told a press conference on Monday.

 

The first batch of five suspects – Chinese nationals Wang Jie, 27, Huang Li, 27, Lin Jia, 28, and Chen Juan, 33, and one American national, Yao Michael Li, 30 – 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 Bt47,500-Bt95,000) 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 He Liu, 28, and Huang Xiofan, 39 – 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The seven suspects, whose Thai visas have been revoked, were all charged with using forged passports, while Liu faces the additional charge of having fake passports in his possession for the purpose of selling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.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30360120

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-12-10

So the Thai Mahidon students who hired these chinese were not fined?

Just now, fruitman said:

So the Thai Mahidon students who hired these chinese were not fined?

They may not be Mahidol students, rather Mahidol was the place the test was administered and this is especially true if they are Chinese nationals.

2 minutes ago, fruitman said:

So the Thai Mahidon students who hired these chinese were not fined?

Certainly not! Mahidon is the second ranked university in Thailand and that would bring shame on the university and it's students. One must have a balanced outlook on these matters. 

Tomorrows headline...

 

China demands the release of its citizens "or face the consequences"

3 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Certainly not! Mahidon is the second ranked university in Thailand and that would bring shame on the university and it's students. One must have a balanced outlook on these matters. 

No faults lie in Thai and their institutions.

Pure as the driven snow.

Yes, how about names and photos of Thais who hired the Chinese? "Individuals #1,2,3, etc"? Seems it would not be difficult to find those who hired them, as there were fake passports with names of Thais to present to testers. Hmmmm...

If they had succeeded, gotten good scores, applied for Ed visa to the states, I wonder if they would then be liable for serious visa fraud charges... false pretenses/statements. I doubt US immigration would be as lenient as Thai authorities

33 minutes ago, Emster23 said:

Yes, how about names and photos of Thais who hired the Chinese? "Individuals #1,2,3, etc"? Seems it would not be difficult to find those who hired them, as there were fake passports with names of Thais to present to testers. Hmmmm...

If they had succeeded, gotten good scores, applied for Ed visa to the states, I wonder if they would then be liable for serious visa fraud charges... false pretenses/statements. I doubt US immigration would be as lenient as Thai authorities

And IF the Mahidol students had passed the tests they would probaly have done the same in the US to get their degree and become doctors here in Thailand where would have been your and mine doctors.

 

I have several family members teaching on Mahidol, they are very serious people though. I bet i won't see them for a while now.

Mahidol was simply serving as the test center; at no point was it suggested that its students were the ones who hired these individuals. On the contrary, more extensive articles elsewhere have indicated that they were to be paid upon returning to China by those who hired them there.

It's quite common for Chinese students to register to take these exams outside China, as the results from exam centers within the country are often looked upon as suspect for this very reason.

9 minutes ago, IntEdSource said:

Mahidol was simply serving as the test center; at no point was it suggested that its students were the ones who hired these individuals. On the contrary, more extensive articles elsewhere have indicated that they were to be paid upon returning to China by those who hired them there.

It's quite common for Chinese students to register to take these exams outside China, as the results from exam centers within the country are often looked upon as suspect for this very reason.

Well then who hired those chinese to do their exams in Thailand?? They sure gave Mahidol a very bad reputation by doing this...and the fact they are not mentioned makes me think in a certain direction...

 

Also it's weird that Mahidol didn't clean themselves from this and just stopped doing these exams for whoever they ordered those chinese cheaters. This story isn't over yet i assume.

15 hours ago, fruitman said:

So the Thai Mahidon students who hired these chinese were not fined?

 

no laws on the books to fine "thainess"

2 hours ago, IntEdSource said:

Mahidol was simply serving as the test center; at no point was it suggested that its students were the ones who hired these individuals. On the contrary, more extensive articles elsewhere have indicated that they were to be paid upon returning to China by those who hired them there.

It's quite common for Chinese students to register to take these exams outside China, as the results from exam centers within the country are often looked upon as suspect for this very reason.

That is a lot of Chinese face lost....

Yes he Chinese do this all over the USA as well.  These companies also create fake lives, transcripts, letters of recommendation...

3 hours ago, IntEdSource said:

Mahidol was simply serving as the test center; at no point was it suggested that its students were the ones who hired these individuals. On the contrary, more extensive articles elsewhere have indicated that they were to be paid upon returning to China by those who hired them there.

It's quite common for Chinese students to register to take these exams outside China, as the results from exam centers within the country are often looked upon as suspect for this very reason.

Which begs the question, if China results are looked upon with suspicion why come to Thailand where things are not all above board either !!

4 hours ago, fruitman said:

Well then who hired those chinese to do their exams in Thailand?? They sure gave Mahidol a very bad reputation by doing this...and the fact they are not mentioned makes me think in a certain direction...

 

Also it's weird that Mahidol didn't clean themselves from this and just stopped doing these exams for whoever they ordered those chinese cheaters. This story isn't over yet i assume.

Families from China presumably hired them, as the Bangkok Post article mentioned that they would have received payment upon their return to China.

It's unfortunately not as straight-forward as it may seem. When an institution registers as an test center, they do not have the ability to reject anyone who applies to take the exam (providing the registration is handled properly and payment is made, which is directly to the test creators). The registrants could be entirely composed of students from outside that institution. Mahidol did exactly what it should have in this case: it followed the proper guidelines from the ACT, enabling the cheaters to be caught.

This is also not uncommon. Over the last two years, both the SAT and ACT exams have been canceled in numerous locations due to a fear of leaks, including in Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong and elsewhere. When one is shut down, the cheaters simply move to another, as there are thousands of registered test centers around the world. It's not a reflection of the schools that choose to be those centers; it's a reflection of the culture of cheating.

5 hours ago, IntEdSource said:

Mahidol was simply serving as the test center; at no point was it suggested that its students were the ones who hired these individuals. On the contrary, more extensive articles elsewhere have indicated that they were to be paid upon returning to China by those who hired them there.

It's quite common for Chinese students to register to take these exams outside China, as the results from exam centers within the country are often looked upon as suspect for this very reason.

Indeed, many testing centres have had the same problems with Chinese sitting exams. I heard one report of a student getting up and walking away from an exam when they spotted a policeman on the campus. These people are hired by the examinees to sit their exam for them. It seems Chinese people will go to any lengths to get out of China. 

22 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Certainly not! Mahidon is the second ranked university in Thailand and that would bring shame on the university and it's students. One must have a balanced outlook on these matters. 

Or great face and prestige if "their" scores were high and they got into prestigious US schools.