950 from Gujarat used fake IELTS scores to move to US, Canada

AHMEDABAD: Mehsana police's investigation into the irregularities in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exams has brought seven centres in Rajkot, Vadodara, Mehsana, Ahmedabad, Navsari, Nadiad and Anand under scanner.
Officers told TOI that at least 950 candidates are suspected to have fraudulently secured high IELTS scores this year by paying Rs 14 lakh each. All of them are now either in the US or Canada.
Sources said that the first case of irregularity came to the fore in April when a dummy student was caught taking the exam in Nadiad. Later, it was found that CCTVs in two centres were switched off to accommodate dummy candidates in Navsari and Mehsana.
A man from Mehsana, who is in the realty business, is the kingpin of the scam, said police sources.
The police swung into action after the TOI, on May 31, reported that illegal immigrants from North Gujarat needed a Hindi translator in a US court despite having IELTS scores of seven and eight. They had taken the exam in September last year, said police sources.
According to the officers, the US consulate general had directed Mehsana police to probe the case after which the cops started an investigation.
A police officer said that the scam of issuing IELTS certificates to US and Canada aspirants has been running for nearly five years.
'Agents Promised IELTS certificates'
The local aides of the human smugglers promise to issue them IELTS certificates with high scores. For this, the candidates are required to shell out Rs 14 lakh each. The agents who work for the Mehsana man collect the mo- ney from the aspirants,” a police officer explained.
Six men who travelled to Canada on student visas were caught by the US agencies on April 28. They were rescued by the agencies of Canada and the US from a sinking boat in the St Regis while illegally crossing over into the US.