Chinese Citizen Charged in Connection with Taking Graduate Record Exam for Others

BOSTON – A Chinese national was arrested yesterday and charged in federal court in Boston in connection with taking the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and TOEFL exam for other Chinese citizens.

Yinyan Wang, 25, a Chinese national studying in Pennsylvania, was charged with one count of visa fraud and one count of passport fraud. Wang was arrested in Pennsylvania, where she made an appearance before a federal magistrate judge in Philadelphia yesterday. She is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Boston later this week. 

According to the criminal complaint unsealed yesterday, Wang took the GRE in Boston on Oct. 20, 2017, for another Chinese citizen. At the testing site, Wang presented a counterfeit Chinese passport containing a counterfeit nonimmigrant visa purportedly issued by the United States in the identity of the other student. The affidavit further alleges that on five prior occasions between July 2017 and August 2107, Wang took either the GRE or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam under assumed names for other people.

Each charge provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.