A ring charging candidates up to £850 to pass the CSCS test has been busted by the Metropolitan Police. More than 70 people obtained fraudulent CSCS card.
Anyone who works in construction in the UK knows that you can’t set foot on a building site without your CSCS card. Well, London’s Metropolitan Police have just announced that three men have been convicted after helping more than 70 candidates pass the exam by cheating. The method was simple: a tiny Bluetooth headset in the ear through which someone dictated their answers during the test.
How the fraud came to light
According to the Metropolitan Police statement, it all started with a referral from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the institution that organizes the construction qualification exams. The CITB suspected that Bluetooth headsets were being cheated at several test centers in London. Police launched an investigation, put the centers under surveillance and worked with the CITB and Pearson Professional Assessments to identify the suspects. With the help of surveillance cameras, location data and phone records, officers gathered enough evidence and made the arrests in less than six months.
Who are the condemned?
On March 31, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, the court handed down the sentences. Sushil Kumar, 37, of Redbridge, was given a two-year, eight-month prison sentence. Pradeep Sheragar, 35, also from Redbridge, was given a two-year suspended sentence. Jaspal Sani, 43, of Newham, was given a suspended sentence of one year and three months. All three pleaded guilty to fraud in January.
“They paid hundreds of pounds out of desperation”
The group operated for a year and collected, according to the police, more than 60,000 pounds. Each candidate paid up to 850 pounds to pass a test that, done legally, costs a few tens of pounds. Detective Constable Neil Stanley, who led the investigation, said many of the applicants were victims themselves: people who paid “out of desperation to find work on the site even though they didn’t have the necessary qualifications”. But he also pointed out the other side of the coin: “Faking the results is extremely dangerous and puts the lives of workers on construction sites all over the city at risk.”
Cards will be withdrawn
The consequences do not stop at the three convicts. CITB head of standards Christopher Simpson said all fraudulent tests would be canceled and CSCS cards obtained from them would be withdrawn. “Those who violate these exams are putting lives at risk, not just their own, but everyone on the job site and the public,” Simpson added. The CITB has also put out a public appeal: anyone who suspects fraud in qualification tests can report confidentially to report.it@citb.co.uk.
Checks are coming up across London
The subject directly concerns the Romanians in the UK. Construction is one of the largest sectors in which Romanians work, and the CSCS card is the basic condition for employment. In London there are many test centers preferred by Romanians. The message from the police is clear: the centers are monitored, there are checks throughout London, and whoever obtained the fraudulent card risks being left without it, without the right to work on the construction site and with a criminal record.
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