Chinese National Sentenced for Fraudulently Obtaining a Student Visa

BOSTON - A Chinese national charged with defrauding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in its administration of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program pleaded guilty and was sentenced today in federal court in Boston.

Yue Wang, 25, a Chinese national residing in Malden, 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.

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 non-immigrant student visas to enter the country and remain for the duration of their studies.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and William B. Gannon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Soivilien of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.