$4.7 million profit from cheating

‘‘Ghostwriters’’ were used by a husband and wife team to write university assignments sold to Chinese-speaking students in New Zealand, a court has heard.

A trial is under way at the High Court in Auckland for the directors of what the Crown alleges was a well-organised commercial cheating service.

In 2013, a Stuff investigation uncovered the business’ practices, the court was told.

Assignments4U used tutors, some outside New Zealand, to write assignments ordered by Chinese-speaking students attending New Zealand universities, polytechnics and private institutions, the court heard. The tutors were paid per assignment and had specialist subjects. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the police launched an inquiry following the Stuff investigation.

A Stuff journalist ordered an essay for a first-year university course from the company, which marketed itself under a Chineselanguage website called Assignments4U, run from an Auckland address.

From 2006 to 2008, Assignments4U Consultant Ltd was a registered company directed and owned by Steven Quan Li, the court heard.

More than $1.1 million was paid to Li and his wife Fan Yang for allegedly hiring ‘‘ghostwriters’’ to complete assignments for paying students.

In 2014, the High Court granted restraining orders against eight Auckland properties linked to the business.

Crown prosecutor Mark Harborow told the court yesterday that Li and Yang owned and benefited financially from Assignments4U from 2006.

‘‘The company sold assignments in a pre-written format for students to hand in to instructors as if they were their own work,’’ Harborow said.

Li and Yang acknowledged they were involved with the company but said they became less involved in the business in 2007 after Li began to focus on his accounting work, Harborow said.

He said the company changed its name in 2007 to Atan Ltd and then again in 2010 to Ateama Ltd.

‘‘Li said he certainly had no involvement from then on and the company was sold and all he did was accountancy work,’’ Harborow told the court.

‘‘However, from 2006 to 2013, Li was the controlling person behind Assignments4U.’’

The profit was estimated at about $4.698m with the average assignment costing $406.

Harborow said students would go to the Auckland office, or email and supply the company details of the essay topic, along with log-in details to the education institute.

‘‘Assignments4U would take the information and contact the tutor or a ghostwriter with the topic, and the ghostwriter, with an aid from a textbook, would write the ‘solution’ or essay,’’ he said. Once complete, the assignment would be given back to the company, which would supply it back to the student.

Harborow said each assignment varied in price depending on urgency, grade and word count. ‘‘The Chinese students expect to pay more if they’re guaranteed an A-grade,’’ Li said in an affidavit read to the court by Harborow. Students would then be credited if they did not achieve their desired grade, but would have to supply a copy of the marked assignment, Harborow said.

The business and the way it was run constituted numerous criminal offences, Harborow said.

He alleged the company, via its human actors, committed forgery, used forged documents and provided cheating services.

The students who engaged with the company also offended by dishonestly using a document and using forged documents, he said.

‘‘The company sold assignments in a prewritten format for students.’’ Crown prosecutor Mark Harborow