Police crack down on cross-provincial exam cheating ring

Police have criminally detained 36 suspects for organizing cross-provincial exam cheating, according to police in Yichang, Hubei province, on Monday.

The police seized over 660 wireless cheating devices. More than 100 bank accounts were frozen, with funds totaling over 1.3 million yuan ($178,000). Nearly 200 test takers across the country were involved.

A case was first reported in Yichang on Nov 19 after electronic devices suspected with text transmission functions were found during a national professional qualification exam.

After investigation, the police discovered that a gang had organized cheating in national-level exams across Hubei, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces. The suspects not only organized cheating, but also supplied cheating devices, and looked for cheating test takers.

According to their confession, the suspects charged fees ranging from 20,000 to 80,000 yuan per person for cheating. They provided cheating services either by illegally obtaining answers before the exams began, or by covertly photographing the test papers during the exams and communicating using wireless devices.

The police are continuing to investigate the case and track down other suspects involved.