Europe

Former Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki arrested in suspected corruption case

Former Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki arrested in suspected corruption case

September 11 () –

Agents from Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) arrested former Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki and his wife at Warsaw airport on Wednesday in connection with a possible corruption case.

This was announced by Interior Ministry spokesman Jacek Dobrzynski on social media, where he alluded to an alleged corruption plot in relation to a possible fraud at the private business university Collegium Humanum.

Later, Dobrzynski himself told the media that the details of the case are currently only known to the CBA, which is participating in the investigation together with the Prosecutor’s Office.

However, the Interior Ministry spokesman has acknowledged that the alleged corruption scheme is linked to the purchase of Master’s degrees in Business Management in exchange for bribes. “The case is still under development,” he stressed.

The National Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed to the Polish news agency PAP that Czarnecki’s arrest is taking place “in the context of an investigation into irregularities at the Collegium Humanum.”

The CBA had already arrested seven other people in July, including the rector of the aforementioned university, accused of trading in university degrees. Czarnecki served as an MEP for the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party in the previous legislature.

Polish media have reported that dozens of PiS politicians have obtained university degrees in accelerated programmes that qualify them for positions on the board of directors of state-owned companies.

Czarnecki was also a vice-president of the European Parliament when the European Parliament decided to dismiss him in February 2018 following controversial statements comparing Polish MEP Roza Thun, a member of the liberal bench, to collaborators of Nazi Germany during World War II.

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