PITTSBURGH—Eight of 15 Chinese citizens indicted in a conspiracy
to take college entrance exams on behalf of others or pay to have
their tests taken so they could obtain student visas pleaded not
guilty before a federal magistrate Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh allege they scammed tests run
by Educational Testing Service and the College Board—such as the
Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT—for more than $5,000 per exam.
The alleged scheme involves tests administered in Pittsburgh and
its suburbs since 2011. Some of the defendants eventually enrolled
in out-of-state schools, though investigators and defense lawyers
have refused to supply specifics.
Two students arraigned Wednesday were enrolled at Virginia Tech
and a third is accused of having someone else take a test whose
results were sent to Northeastern University.
"Mistakes were clearly made and they're probably going to end up
paying for them," said defense lawyer Lyle Dresbold, who represents
Yue Zou, 20, of Blacksburg, Va.
Zou and her boyfriend and co-defendant, Yudong Zhang, 21, were
listed as students Wednesday on Virginia Tech's website. Ms. Zou is
studying finance and Mr. Zhang general engineering at the school,
where officials didn't immediately comment on their status or the
test-related charges.
Mr. Zhang allegedly sent a photocopy of Ms. Zou's passport to a
Pittsburgh man, Han Tong, 24, who's identified as a test-taker,
before another woman arraigned Wednesday, Yunlin Sun, 24, of
Berlin, Pa., took SAT and English language tests while posing as
Ms. Zou, according to the indictment.
"These aren't bad people," Mr. Dresbold said. "They just wanted
to get an education. They just wanted to get ahead."
But U.S. Attorney David Hickton said the Pittsburgh
investigation is just part of a continuing investigation spurred,
in part, by concerns that people from China and other Asian
countries have been impersonating others, or otherwise cheating on
the tests.
That is a federal issue, Mr. Hickton said, "Because if that
student status is obtained fraudulently, then that [student] visa
is obtained fraudulently."
"Nowhere is it accepted that you can cheat or lie your way into
a college, and that's what this case is about," Hickton said.
Lawyers for Mr. Tong, considered a central figure in the charges
filed so far, and several other defendants declined to comment.
Robert Mielnicki, the lawyer for Ms. Sun, said she "contests the
allegations" but declined to elaborate.
The only other lawyer who spoke was Gary Gerson, who represents
Gong Zhang, 23, also of Pittsburgh. He allegedly took an English
fluency exam in April 2013 for another person not named in the
indictment.
Mr. Gerson said his client is a "naive" young man who received
only "minimal" reward for his actions. "He tried to help a friend
out and didn't realize what he was getting into," Mr. Gerson
said.
Two others scheduled for arraignments Wednesday had their court
appearances postponed, two others have yet to be scheduled for
arraignments and three others charged have yet to be identified as
their names have been redacted in the mail and wire fraud
indictment announced late last month.
The others arraigned were:
—Biyuan Li, 25, of Boston, who allegedly paid $5,990 to have an
unspecified test taken for him;
—Siyuan Zhao, 24, of Revere, Mass., who allegedly had Mr. Tong
take an English fluency test whose results were sent to
Northeastern University;
—Songling Peng, 19, of Watertown, Wis., who allegedly sent an
image of his real passport over a Chinese chat network so it could
be used to make a fake one, and wired $5,600 to an unspecified New
York bank account for a test taken in his name.
Copyright 2015 Associated Press
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