Photo/Illutration The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Tokyo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Tokyo police have arrested a Chinese graduate student who is believed to be a central figure in widespread cheating on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC).

Wang Likun, 27, from Kyoto’s Sakyo Ward, is accused of trespassing at a TOEIC exam venue in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward by impersonating another test-taker, the Metropolitan Police Department said May 19.

He reportedly admitted to the allegations, saying, “It is true that I was present at the test venue with an ID card that is different from my real name.”

According to the Nogata Police Station in the capital, the suspect, in a conspiracy with others, entered the venue at 2:50 p.m. on May 18 without a legitimate reason.

The test organizer had contacted police earlier this month, saying, “Recently, we’ve been seeing test-takers with the same face photos but different names.”

Police officers were on guard at the venue on May 18 when Wang showed up. He told the reception desk that he had “forgotten his test ticket.”

When the officers interviewed Wang, he admitted that he was pretending to be someone else. He said he was trying to create a spare admission ticket under a name that was different from the one he had used in previous exams.

Wang also had a small microphone of 3 to 4 centimeters hidden in his mask, police said.

CHEATING ‘JOB’

The exam organizers had earlier told police they suspected widespread cheating.

“There has recently been an unusual increase in Chinese people scoring over 900 points (out of 990),” one of them said.

They also reported that one test-taker was muttering in Chinese at the exam venue.

The MPD believes Wang was the mutterer who was revealing correct answers to other Chinese there.

The suspect reportedly said he was looking for part-time work to gain money, and that he found this “job.”

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the exam-cheating job and who else was involved.

The Nogata Police Station plans to refer Wang to prosecutors on May 20 on suspicion of counterfeiting private seals and documents through his impersonation of another test-taker.

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