A SCAM involving a Perth university employee charging Indian students thousands of dollars for fake English test results stretched across the country, with one student flying from Queensland to obtain dodgy marks.
The student, Sukhdeep Buttar, was desperate to secure results good enough to qualify for permanent residency.
He heard about the racket through a friend in Perth, Satinder Sidhu, who gave evidence at Western Australia’s Corruption and Crime Commission yesterday.
Mr Sidhu said he and Mr Buttar paid $8000 each to a man known as “Jimmy” so his results could be falsified.
“(Mr Buttar) was too much depressed . . . he couldn’t get the results; he tried a lot. That’s why he said if you know somebody,” Mr Sidhu told the inquiry. He said he had since learnt that “Jimmy” was in fact an Indian student called Pritesh Shah.
Mr Shah also took the stand yesterday and admitted he took about $30,000 from up to 40 Indian students so their results could be falsified.
Mr Shah said he became involved in the scam through a man called Abdul Kader who he worked with at a Perth petrol station. Mr Kader lived with a man called Keith Low who worked at Curtin University and could change the results of English tests used by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to help determine visa qualifications.
Mr Shah admitted he took about $200 per transaction and said Mr Kader also took a slice of the amount charged. The students were charged an average of $5000.
During Mr Shah’s evidence it was revealed that the CCC had raided the home of one of the students who paid for fake results. The CCC also secretly recorded calls between Mr Shah and Mr Kader. In one bugged call Mr Shah was heard reassuring Mr Kader in Hindi that the scam would not be revealed.
The student, Sukhdeep Buttar, was desperate to secure results good enough to qualify for permanent residency.
He heard about the racket through a friend in Perth, Satinder Sidhu, who gave evidence at Western Australia’s Corruption and Crime Commission yesterday.
Mr Sidhu said he and Mr Buttar paid $8000 each to a man known as “Jimmy” so his results could be falsified.
“(Mr Buttar) was too much depressed . . . he couldn’t get the results; he tried a lot. That’s why he said if you know somebody,” Mr Sidhu told the inquiry. He said he had since learnt that “Jimmy” was in fact an Indian student called Pritesh Shah.
Mr Shah also took the stand yesterday and admitted he took about $30,000 from up to 40 Indian students so their results could be falsified.
Mr Shah said he became involved in the scam through a man called Abdul Kader who he worked with at a Perth petrol station. Mr Kader lived with a man called Keith Low who worked at Curtin University and could change the results of English tests used by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to help determine visa qualifications.
Mr Shah admitted he took about $200 per transaction and said Mr Kader also took a slice of the amount charged. The students were charged an average of $5000.
During Mr Shah’s evidence it was revealed that the CCC had raided the home of one of the students who paid for fake results. The CCC also secretly recorded calls between Mr Shah and Mr Kader. In one bugged call Mr Shah was heard reassuring Mr Kader in Hindi that the scam would not be revealed.