DailyExpertNews
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Think “international manhunt” and the image that probably comes to mind is that of a hardened criminal such as a murderer, bank robber, or billion dollar fraudster – not the middle-aged boss of a high school tuition center.
But that’s who’s at the center of a Red Notice issued this week by the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol, that allows police cooperation between 194 countries.
Poh Yuan Nie, 57, is said to have fled Singapore after masterminding an elaborate scam during the Southeast Asian countries annual GCE O Level exams, which students take during their senior year of high school.
Poh did not surrender to police after a court sentenced her to four years in prison for running the scam, in which she and three of her teachers gave answers to students using a system of bodycams, earphones and Bluetooth devices.
Private tuition centers are big business in the wealthy city-state where the pressure for students to perform well can be overwhelming and it is not uncommon for established private tuition centers to have monthly fees of up to S$2,000 ($1,500).
According to early court documents, Poh, 57, and her three accomplices — her niece Fiona Poh Min, ex-girlfriend Tan Jia Yan and a Chinese national named Feng Riwen — were each paid Singapore dollars 8,000 ($6,100) by a man from China to help six students between the ages of 17 and 20 – also from China – pass the GCE exams in 2016 so that they can enter local colleges.
The payment would have been fully refunded if the students had failed the exams.
Per Poh’s instructions, the six students wore skin-colored earphones and cell phones and bluetooth devices taped to their bodies so they could get answers from Tan, who posed as a private student taking the same test papers.
Using a hidden camera phone taped to her chest, Tan livestreamed the questions to Poh and the two other teachers at the education center, who then transcribed the answers and gave them to the students.
There was a rumble when an exam invigilator heard unusual noises coming from one of the students, who got away when questioned.
After a year-long trial that ended in 2020, Poh was convicted of 27 counts of cheating and sentenced to four years in prison. Her Red Notice to Interpol included a mugshot and listed her charges of “inciting deception.”
Singapore police, which had requested the notice from Interpol, said Poh was due to begin her jail term in September but had not surrendered. Her three accomplices are all currently serving their respective ones jail terms, police said.
“Poh was convicted of a series of fraud offenses after conspiring with students to cheat in the 2016 GCE O Level exams,” Singapore police said in a statement, adding that local warrants for her arrest had also been issued against her. .
“She was ordered to surrender in September 2022 to serve her prison sentence, but she did not.”
According to Interpol, law enforcement agencies around the world are being asked to track down and arrest people under Red Notices – pending extradition, surrender or other legal action.
The case has highlighted a school system that is among the best in the world and known for its competitiveness.
The Singapore government has introduced a series of reforms in recent years to ease the mental strain on students who are under immense pressure to get good grades.
The GCE O Level exams can be a particularly stressful time as they determine a student’s full performance in high school and determine which local college or vocational institution they can attend. The exams, called General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level in full, are national tests in the fields of mathematics, science, languages and humanities.
They are conducted jointly by the Cambridge Assessment International Examination and the Singapore Ministry of Education. They are not the same as the annual British GCSE exams.
GCE exams are usually taken by students aged 16 and 17 and are also open to private candidates. About 30,000 students take exams every year, according to MOE estimates.