A cheating ringleader who helped candidates pass construction health and safety tests by feeding answers through an earpiece has been jailed for more than two years for fraud.
An east London-based trio charged up to £850 per test, which involved answering about 50 multiple-choice questions on computers at Pearson VUE test centres across south east England.
Sushil Kumar, 37 (pictured right), Pradeep Sheregear, 35, and Jaspal Saini (pictured left), 43, were sentenced today after pleading guilty to intentionally engaging or assisting in fraud by false representation.
Health and safety qualifications are known targets of test centre fraud because they are essential for obtaining Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) cards, which are required to work on construction sites.
The “sophisticated” scheme, which ran from July 2022 to February 2023, involved the gang training candidates to hide a “cheat phone” in their underwear and covertly move a small wireless earpiece from their waistband to underneath the test centre headphones.
A police investigation found that at least 66 candidates cheated on tests, paying the group individual payments of £500 to £850, equal to £33,000 to £56,000 in financial gain.
Kumar took a leading role in the scheme, meeting candidates in his Ilford office and instructing them to book Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) health and safety operative tests at 12 Pearson VUE test centres, including in Wimbledon, Reading, Canterbury, Guildford and Brighton.
He told candidates to book a “voiceover” access arrangement that includes headphones that play an audio recording of the questions and possible answers, which are usually shown in writing on the computer screen.
The scheme bypassed security measures which include asking candidates to place any electronic devices in a locker and sit in individual booths, which are monitored by CCTV.
On the day of the test, Kumar drove candidates to centres, parked nearby and monitored them by listening via Bluetooth devices that auto-answered incoming calls.
Once the test started, Sheregear, who police branded “the facilitator”, would call from his home in Ilford, automatically connect to the phone, and feed the correct answers to candidates.
In February and March 2023, while Kumar was on holiday, HS2 plant machinery operator Saini covered his role.
Kumar was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, while Sheregear was sentenced to 24 months, suspended for two years, with 100 hours of unpaid work, 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days, and a three-month nighttime home curfew.
Saini was sentenced to 15 months, suspended for 15 months, with 15 rehabilitation activity days, 80 hours of unpaid work, and a three-month curfew.
Sentencing the trio today at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Judge Ross Cohen said: “Your offending facilitated cheating on a large scale.
“It is inevitable that some candidates who you helped cheat would not have passed the health and safety test without your help.
“That would result in them being CSCS accredited when they had insufficient knowledge or awareness of health and safety matters, which would in turn create greater risk to themselves and others.
“In short, this criminality entirely undermined the health and safety regime of the construction workplace, raising the risk of harm occurring.”
The investigation started after a referral by counter-fraud company PS3 Limited, which CITB contracts to investigate fraud allegations.
Police carried out a test purchase operation which involved an undercover officer attending Kumar’s office, training to use the earpiece, and attempting to cheat at a test centre.
They later arrested the trio, collecting evidence including written records of candidates and payments received, laptops, phones, wireless earpieces, and test centre sheets.
CSCS card-related fraud has long been an issue due to their value as a golden ticket for gaining work on a building site, where skilled workers are in high demand.
This includes cheats targeting test centres and, as shown in an FE Week investigation, forged cards.
In recent years, exam regulator Ofqual has rebuked and fined awarding bodies for failures around health and safety qualification fraud, including the British Safety Council and publicly-owned Scottish Qualifications Authority.
A spokesperson for Pearson said: “Pearson maintains a zero-tolerance policy around cheating or fraud.
“We will support all necessary actions against those involved, including working with the appropriate authorities to prosecute to the fullest extent possible.
“Pearson’s security team worked closely with CITB and officers from the Met Police specialist online and financial crime unit on this investigation and provided crucial evidence leading to these convictions.’’
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