At the helm of the company embroiled in a large-scale academic cheating scandal is a Chinese-born businesswoman. The enterprising 30-year-old has used her accounting degree to build a lucrative ghostwriting service, called MyMaster. This pitch has seen the MyMaster company turn over at least $160,000 during 2014 and return more than 900 fraudulent assignments to students prepared to hand over up to $1,000 for the work.

Police and education authorities are investigating allegations of mass cheating by international students at tertiary institutes throughout the country. The man who reported the issues alleged that he was contracted to write assignments for students at various universities who could not meet language standards.

Jakarta's Pramuka Street intersection is well known for its essay-production services, as Indonesian universities continue to be dogged by the problem of ghostwritten essays. By paying a sum, a student can graduate without making much effort writing the final-year dissertation.

A new Ministry of Education regulation to punish academic fraud has come into effect to clamp down on plagiarism and fabricating research data, as well as buying, selling or organizing trade in academic degree theses, including all forms of "ghostwriting" or buying of materials produced by essay mills.

Strong demand for ghost-written academic papers in the lead-up to university graduation and revelations that people pay to have scholarly articles published are worrying critics who fear the billion-yen industry is making it harder than ever to evaluate graduates' abilities.

A study conducted by students at Chulalongkorn University shows that large numbers of students are climbing the academic ladder not by hard work and smarts, but by cheating. Assignments were sold at a rate of 15 to 30 baht per page, depending on the subject matter and the urgency. Students could purchase multiples choice in advance or written exams.