Kaohsiung authorities have questioned eight suspected members of a criminal ring accused of helping people cheat in state enterprise entrance exams, in an investigation implicating 101 people.
Prosecutors as well as officials from the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption have over the past few weeks conducted searches and collected evidence against the alleged ring, saying they have cracked a case of “group cheating.”
Investigators have since October last year found that 101 people allegedly used electronic devices to pass entrance examinations for state enterprises, saying 31 were hired by Taiwan Power Co, 36 by CPC Corp, Taiwan and 34 by China Steel Corp.
Photo: CNA
The ring allegedly collected a fee of NT$1.2 million to NT$1.5 million (US$43,371 to US$54,214) from each exam taker who passed their exam, for a total of more than NT$100 million, Prosecutor Tsai Chieh-cheng (蔡杰承) said on Friday.
Officials at the affected state enterprises said that implicated personnel would be dismissed from their jobs and barred from taking the exams again.
A “wanted” bulletin has been issued for Wu Tai-lin (吳岱霖), the alleged leader of the ring, Tsai said.
Four of the eight suspects were detained after questioning: Taiwan Power Co employee Kuo Chia-hsuan (郭佳弦), 32; China Steel Corp employee Lin Tsung-yi (林宗逸), 34; his wife, surnamed Chen (陳); and Wu’s girlfriend.
The remaining suspects were released after posting bail of NT$10,000 to NT$100,000.
The alleged cheating was carried out using a tiny Bluetooth receiver placed inside the ear canal, which is difficult to detect by casual observers, along with a signal receiver booster placed outside the exam room for the alleged ring members to send answers via wireless signal, Tsai said.
The ring has allegedly helped people cheat in exams for the past five years, he said.
Prosecutors said authorities used to have electronic signal-detecting devices at some examination sites to monitor abnormal telecommunication activities.
However, such instances were usually the result of tip-offs and officials had some idea how to scan for abnormal signals, prosecutors said, adding that if officials have no prior indication, then it could be difficult to detect cheating.
Wu instructed the examinees to grow their hair long to cover their ears to make it more difficult for proctors to see the cheating devices, investigators said.
The ring members allegedly used a signal detection device to sweep the examination site and ensure that there was no interference. They then placed a backpack containing the booster with a transmitter just outside the exam room, they said.
A designated “ringer” registered to take the exam would finish about half an hour before the exam’s end and allegedly pass on the correct answers to Wu to be transmitted to the examinees, investigators said.
The cheating devices utilized Bluetooth signals used by smartphones, which helped avoid scanning devices at exam sites, although authorities could use a jamming device or Wi-Fi blocking device to prevent cheating.
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