Three charged for helping O-Levels private candidate cheat
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Two women and one men were hauled to court on Friday (Oct 28) for allegedly conspiring to help an O-Levels candidate cheat during his English paper, in a case that is be-lieved to involve more perpetrators.
Fiona Poh Min, 29, and Feng Riwen, 24, were charged for plotting with others to help one Chen Yi in taking the O-Level English Paper 1, and “dishonestly concealing” the act from the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB). Chen, understood to be a private candidate, sat for the paper on Oct 24.
According to the charge sheets, Poh and Feng had “fraudulently induced SEAB to accept Chen’s answer script as a legitimate submission for marking...(an) act likely to cause harm to SEAB’s reputation”. The charge sheets did not detail how the duo allegedly helped him cheat.
Fiona Poh, a Singaporean, and Feng, a Chinese national, were also charged with “intentionally perverting the course of justice” by instigating Chen to leave Singapore on Oct 24 to avoid being investigated by the police. They were arrested on Wednesday (Oct 26).
The third accused, Wong Mee Keow, 38, was charged with “intentionally obstructing the course of justice”. She is accused of deleting photographs on a handphone belonging to a Pony Poh — named as an instigator — to prevent Pony Poh from being identified by the police, on Oct 26. She was arrested the next day.
A search on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s website showed that Wong is the sole proprietor of a tuition centre in Tampines and also owns a visual production business registered under the same address.
When contacted, the SEAB said it was aware of the incident, and it had filed a police report. “As the case is currently undergoing police investigations, SEAB is unable to comment further,” said the board.
The prosecution sought a week’s adjournment for investigations to conclude. The trio will be back in court on Nov 4.
For cheating, one can be jailed up to three years and/or fined. For intentionally obstructing or perverting the course of justice, one can be jailed up to seven years and/or fined.
