Yunlin Sun, 24, of Berlin, is one of 15 Chinese citizens who were indicted last May in the scheme. Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh allege they scammed tests run by Educational Testing Service and the College Board — such as the SAT — for nearly $6,000 per exam.
The alleged scheme involved tests administered in Pittsburgh and its suburbs since 2011.
Sun acknowledged taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL, in November 2013 for Yue Zou, 20, of Blacksburg, Virginia, and again in December 2013 for another Chinese woman identified only as an unnamed co-conspirator.
Zou and her boyfriend and co-defendant, Yudong Zhang, 21, have pleaded not guilty. Both were still listed Monday as students on Virginia Tech’s website. Zou is studying finance and Zhang is studying general engineering at the school. Officials haven’t responded to requests for comment on their status or the test-related charges.
Zhang allegedly sent a photocopy of Zou’s passport to a Pittsburgh man, Han Tong, 24, who pleaded guilty last week to being the central figure in the conspiracy.
Tong, a former University of Pittsburgh student, used a Chinese Internet forum called QQ Chat to contact a China-based business that arranged to have proxies like Sun take SAT, TOEFL and graduate school entrance exams.
