US charges 15 Chinese nationals in college exam fraud scheme

Fifteen Chinese nationals have been charged with developing a fraud scheme in which they paid imposters to take entrance exams, including the SAT, and gained acceptance to elite American colleges and universities, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday.

周四，美国司法部宣布，15名中国公民因策划雇佣枪手参加包括SAT等入学考试，利用虚假成绩申请美国顶尖大学等罪名被起诉。

Conspirators were paid up to $6,000 each time they used counterfeit Chinese passports to trick test administrators into thinking they were the person who would benefit from the test score, a federal grand jury charged.

联邦大陪审团指控，被告持假中国护照欺骗考场监考，进入考场为他人取得考试成绩，被替考人则为他们每人每次支付6000美元。

Between 2011 and 2015, mainly in western Pennsylvania, the defendants paid imposters to take the SAT - previously known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test - the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), under false names, according to the Justice Department statement.

司法部的声明称，2011年至2015年期间，被告雇佣替考者冒名顶替，参加SAT，TOEFL和GRE等考试，涉案大部分事件主发生在宾夕法尼亚州西部。

Both the test takers and the people they claimed to be are being charged. US Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania David Hickton said the beneficiaries secured admission to undergraduate and graduate schools that are "among our finest educational institutions".

考生和替考者都受到了起诉。美国宾夕法尼亚州西区联邦检察官大卫·希克顿称，被替考人申请的本科和研究生院包括有美国最好的大学。

Hickton declined to name the specific schools, but said that they are located all over the United States.

希克顿拒绝透露学校的具体名称，但称他们遍布全美。

The students also cheated student visa requirements by using counterfeit Chinese passports, he said.

还有学生通过假中国护照骗取留学生签证申请。

The defendants are men and women between the ages of 19 and 26 currently living in several cities where universities are located, including Blacksburg, Virginia, home of Virginia Tech and Boston, Massachusetts, home to dozens of colleges and several elite schools.

被告中既有男性也有女性，年龄在19-26岁，目前居住在学校所在的城市，包括弗吉尼亚理工学院所在的黑堡和马萨诸塞州几所顶尖学校所在的波士顿。

"These students were not only cheating their way into the university, they were also cheating their way through our nation’s immigration system," said John Kelleghan, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations of Philadelphia.

宾夕法尼亚国土安全调查机构的负责人约翰·卡拉汗表示：“这些学生不仅在入学考试中作弊，他们还企图蒙骗我们国家的移民系统。”

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both for each count of wire and mail fraud. Conspiracy charges carry an additional five-year maximum sentence.

如果罪名成立，依据邮件及电信欺诈罪，被告将面临最高20年的监禁，并处25万美元罚金。合谋罪最高可追加5年监禁。

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来源:CNN 英语新闻爱语吧作者:孙梦光