Officials from Poland’s anti-corruption agency CBA have arrested ex-EU parliamentarian Ryszard Czarnecki of the long-ruling PiS party, over alleged involvement in the trafficking of university degrees.
The right-wing conservative politician was arrested at Warsaw airport, the spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on X. His wife was also arrested. According to the information, the former vice-president of the EU Parliament is being investigated for irregularities at a private university.
What the Public Prosecution Service specifically accused him and his wife of was initially missing. The spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior told the PAP news agency only that it was about buying MBA degrees from the Collegium Humanum in exchange for bribes.
Diploma trade bankrupt
In July, the CBA arrested the director of the private college and six other people on suspicion of diploma trading. According to Polish media reports, several dozen PiS politicians were said to have obtained MBA degrees from the university in an accelerated process, which would have made them eligible for a position on the board of a state-owned company.
The European Anti-Fraud Authority (OLAF) had already investigated Czarnecki in 2020 in another case. During his time as a Member of the European Parliament, he invoiced a total of €203,167 in travel expenses between 2009 and 2013. At the insistence of OLAF, he had to pay back €104,000 to the parliament. However, the case was passed on to the Polish prosecutor’s office and is now pending there. Since Czarnecki lost his mandate in the recent European elections, he is no longer protected by parliamentary immunity.
Politicians claim they knew nothing
Czarnecki denies the allegations. He wrote further
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
