BOSTON — A 25-year-old Chinese national who was living in Malden pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding the U.S. government in a test-taking scheme and was ordered to be deported to China.
Yue Wang pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel sentenced Wang to time-served and ordered her immediately removed from the United States to the People’s Republic of China.
According to prosecutors, on May 24, 2016, working off a tip, a law enforcement officer interviewed Wang about her experience taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam. Wang admitted to taking the test on at least three occasions on behalf of registered test takers.
To take the exam, Wang received Chinese passports through the mail or in person and used the passports as identification to take the exam as if she were the person represented in the passports.
Wang received nearly $7,000 to take TOEFL exams on behalf of three registered test takers. These co-conspirators then used those fraudulently obtained scores to gain admission to United States colleges, which made them eligible to receive F-1 nonimmigrant student visas to enter the country and remain for the duration of their studies.