Four Chinese citizens arrested on college-entry cheating charges

By adamg on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 1:59pm

Four Chinese women, including a Northeastern student, were arrested today on charges that one of them took a US college-entry exam for the others, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports.

According to the feds, Yue Wang, 25, a student at the Hult International Business School in Cambridge took the Test of English as a Foreign Language for Shikun Zhang, 24, Leyi Huang, 21, and Xiaomeng Cheng, 21 - and did well enough on it to help them get into Northeastern, Penn State and Arizona State University respectively.

And that just will not do, acting US Attorney William Weinreb said in a statement:

Illegal schemes to circumvent the TOEFL exam jeopardize both academic integrity and our country’s student visa program. The TOEFL exam ensures that international students have adequate English language skills to succeed in higher education programs in the United States. It also helps maintain the security of our borders and immigration system. By effectively purchasing passing scores, they violated the rules and regulations of the exam, taking spots at US colleges and universities that could have gone to others.

All four women were in the US on student visas. They now face up to five years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000, followed by deportation, if convicted on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Innocent, etc.

Topics:

Crime

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Northeastern University

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Comments

Wow

By Scauma on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 2:04pm.

Seems like an awful lot of time for a relatively minor crime. Doesn't even sound like it should rise to the level of federal prosecution.

I think this kind of thing is common.

By Miaow on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 2:21pm.

I went to NU for engineering graduate school and there were quite a number of students who could not speak or write any English and I suspected they cheated on this exam.

There was also rampant cheating on assignments, it was horrible.

There was even one time that a man showed up at one of our mandatory team projects - stating that he would do the work for his wife since her English was so poor. He wasn't even enrolled in the class. In my opinion you need to pass the mandatory tests including the test of English as a Foreign Language.

It is a crime and they should be held accountable.

I KNOW it is common

By Sam the Eagle on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 5:15pm.

A family member used to work in the admissions office of a local university. This is absolutely rampant with international students, particularly from China. Usually the schools look the other way as long as the tuition is paid in cash. In fact I'm shocked that anyone is getting prosecuted at all.

So that's four down, how many thousand to go?

Miaow, you bring up

By Kathode on Fri, 05/05/2017 - 7:04am.

a good point. Not only is it illegal to take TOEFL tests for others, but given the amount of group work in many classes, students who cannot communicate can also not fully participate in their classes. If group work is required, the students who can't speak or write adequately are not doing their part of the work and the other students suffer.

Diplomatic incident?

By Snuggles on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 2:33pm.

People have been complaining for many years about supposed widespread problems with the kind of cheating that is alleged here, coming from a few particular countries.

I'm guessing that a message is being sent. I don't know whether it's originating as a genuine attempt to stem the problem, or WH political pandering to a voting base, or something else.

If some of the claims I've heard about institutionalized cheating on certain tests are true, then these charges might be a major diplomatic incident.

Also be careful with upsetting the flow of foreign students to the US. They a big source of funds at some colleges. We also get some of the brightest and most hard-working people in the world coming and doing their work at universities here, and then often companies. And having people want to come here, and spending time here, is good for international goodwill towards the US, too, which we really need.

disagree

By Miaow on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 2:36pm.

I don't think cheating to get a visa and a place in a foreign university is a minor crime. OK it's not on par with murder but it is a deliberate attempt to mislead the US government and Universities.

Well, neither does laughing

By anon on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 2:42pm.

Well, neither does laughing during a court hearing, but here we are.

It's pretty simple to see between the lines of the statement here.

They fraudulently obtained visas

By Waquiot on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 2:42pm.

Well, three did, while the fourth aided and abetted. That's one of the definitions of a federal crime.

I agree with you on the time. If their lawyers have any sense, they will try to plea out for deportation with on chance of reentering the country. Australia here they come!

They already had the visa's

By Scauma on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 3:20pm.

Unless I'm misunderstanding the article. I'm not a visa expert though so who knows. Still, just doesn't seem that serious to me.

Yeah, but

By Waquiot on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 3:38pm.

To renew the F1, they needed the college placement, which is obtained in part by taking the TOEFL. Allow me to paste some if the release

“Illegal schemes to circumvent the TOEFL exam jeopardize both academic integrity and our country’s student visa program,” said William B. Weinreb, Acting Assistant U.S Attorney. “The TOEFL exam ensures that international students have adequate English language skills to succeed in higher education programs in the United States. It also helps maintain the security of our borders and immigration system. By effectively purchasing passing scores, they violated the rules and regulations of the exam, taking spots at US colleges and universities that could have gone to others."

I would imagine that faking one's credentials to get an H1B would be the same thing. I'm sure that the defendants only saw the fraud against the schools, not against the federal government, but there you have it. It's kind of like how Alan Eagleson went down federally in the US because of his mail box in Niagara Falls, NY.

Visa and potential financial

By anon on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 2:46pm.

Visa and potential financial aid fraud is kind of a big deal.

No bail

By Sock_Puppet on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 6:28pm.

Not just flight risk - they might pay someone else to do the time for them!

Who the hell do they think they are?

By Dante on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 2:21pm.

Candidate impersonation is for H1B Visa scammers, not Chinese students!

If they will be deported, why imprison then at all?

By Ron Newman on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 3:04pm.

Deportation could be the entire sentence.

I agree with you; technical nit

By Bob Leponge on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 5:09pm.

Technically, deportation is not a sentence or punishment.

If you build using Schedule 40 pipe when the code calls for Schedule 80, you are in violation of the law but you have not committed a crime; the government's remedy is not to fine you or imprison you, but to compel you to replace the Sched 40 with Sched 80.

If you don't pay your taxes when they're due, similarly, you are in violation of the law but have not committed a crime: the government's remedy is to compel you to pay, plus interest and penalties (none of which are technically fines).

Similarly, if you are here without a visa, you are in violation of the law but, in most cases, have not committed a crime; deportation is not a punishment, it is simply the government compelling you to correct an illegal condition; you just need to leave.

Contrast this with bribing the building inspector, cheating on your income taxes, or fraudulently obtaining a visa -- all of these are actual crimes for which there is punishment above and beyond simply making you correct the underlying illegal condition.

Imagine. Taking a test so some dummy

By bulgingbuick on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 3:43pm.

can spend 50-60K a year for 5 years.

Imaging having to cheat to

By Cliff clavin on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 4:19pm.

Imaging having to cheat to get into Arizona State?

Don't pick on the Harvard..

By Waquiot on Thu, 05/04/2017 - 5:40pm.

... of Date Rape

But hey, they've got a D1 college hockey team.