Ex-principal of tuition centre in O-Level exam cheating case suspected to have fled the country
SINGAPORE —The former principal of a tuition centre who helped students cheat in their O-Level examinations is suspected to have fled the country.A prosecutor on Thursday (Dec 22) asked a judge to vary the outstanding warrants to arrest for Poh Yuan Nie, 56, to state specifically that they are for execution out of jurisdiction.
When asked if there was any specific country in mind, such as Malaysia or Brunei, Deputy Public Prosecutor Louis Ngia said no.
He added that the reason was so an application for an Interpol Red Notice can be made. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
As far as the police know, Poh has absconded, said Mr Ngia.
Read also
Poh, also known as Pony, faces four years in jail. An arrest warrant was issued for her by a court in November after she failed to turn up to begin her jail term for 27 counts of cheating.She had been sentenced in 2020 after a long-running trial, but her final appeal was dismissed only in November this year.
THE CASE
Poh was involved in the cheating case with three others. She claimed trial along with her niece, Fiona Poh Min, who received three years' jail, and Feng Riwen, who was given two years and four months' jail. Tan Jia Yan was the only one who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years' jail in 2019.The group worked at the now-defunct Zeus Education Centre. They carried out a scheme for three examination papers in October 2016, with six students having devices strapped to their bodies and carefully concealed under layers of clothes.
A few hours before each exam, Fiona and Feng taped the devices on the students. During the exams, Tan sat in as a private candidate and used FaceTime on her phone to livestream the question papers back to the tuition centre.
Fiona and Feng would then work on the questions and call the students to read the answers to them.
Read also
The ruse was uncovered when an invigilator heard unusual electronic transmission sounds and voices coming from one of the students.Poh was labelled by the prosecution as the mastermind of the entire scheme.
As principal, she decided how the operation would be carried out and approved her co-accused's actions, overseeing the entire process on the day of examinations.
The judge fixed a further review of Poh's case in May. CNA
