Eight workers were arrested in the examination cheating investigation | Rare Techy

Authorities on Monday arrested eight employees of three state-owned firms suspected of cheating on recruitment exams as part of an examination-related fraud investigation involving 101 people, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said on Tuesday.

Acting on a tip last year, prosecutors in Kaohsiung and anti-corruption authorities in southern Taiwan launched an investigation in October last year into a high-tech exam cheating ring that helped people cheat on exams and secure jobs. Three Top Govt.

Investigators gathered evidence that 101 people had passed recruitment tests for jobs in several state enterprises using electronic devices in the past five years.

However, after investigators found evidence of cheating on state enterprise exams and issued a notice asking those involved to come forward, only 20 of the 101 suspects surrendered to law enforcement and pleaded guilty, prosecutors said.

On Monday, prosecutors and anti-corruption officials raided oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan (CPC), energy utility Taiwan Power Co. (TaiPower) and China Steel Corp. and arrested eight people.

Five at CPC, two at Taipower and one at China Steel all later admitted to cheating and gaining positions in exams, including one at China Steel, the prosecutor’s office said.

The leader of the fraud ring, Wu (吳), a 40-year-old man, helped a man surnamed Kuo (郭) get a job at Taipower in 2016, investigators said.

Kuo then joined in recruiting more people who were willing to pay to pass the state enterprise recruitment exams.

He was responsible for delivering and recycling electronic devices used for cheating, inspecting exam rooms and collecting payments.

In 2018, Wu helped a man named Lin (林) cheat on an exam in order to get a job at China Steel, and recruited Lin and his wife to join the group.

The group charged each test-taker a fee of NT$20,000 (US$622) to purchase equipment needed for cheating, including mobile phones, earphones and signal amplifiers. Those who passed the test then made payments ranging from NT$1.2 million to NT$1.5 million.

The investigation found that the group helped people cheat in exams for jobs in at least 10 state enterprises since 2016, and at least 101 people got jobs.

Prosecutors said the group made $100 million in illegal activity.

Five people, including Wu, were prosecuted in September for fraud and other crimes, she added.