Suspected corruption

Former Vice-President of the EU Parliament arrested

It would not be the first corruption scandal for Czarnecki.

(Bild: AFP/Ted ALJIBE)

Officials from Poland's anti-corruption agency CBA have arrested former MEP Ryszard Czarnecki from the long-standing ruling PiS party. The former Vice-President of the EU Parliament may have been involved in the trade in university diplomas.

The right-wing conservative politician was apprehended at Warsaw airport, the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior announced on X. His wife was also arrested. 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.

There was initially no information on what the public prosecutor's office is specifically accusing him and his wife of. The spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior only told the news agency PAP that the investigation concerned the purchase of MBA degrees at the Collegium Humanum in exchange for bribes.

Trade in diplomas exposed
In July, the CBA arrested the rector of the private university and six other people on suspicion of trading in diplomas. According to reports in Polish media, several dozen PiS politicians are said to have obtained an MBA diploma at the university in a fast-track procedure, which qualified them for a position on the board of a state-owned company.

Czarnecki had already been investigated by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in another case in 2020. During his time as a Member of the European Parliament, he had claimed a total of 203,167 euros in travel expenses between 2009 and 2013. At the instigation of OLAF, he had to repay 104,000 euros to the Parliament. However, the proceedings were passed on to the Polish public prosecutor's office and are now pending there. As Czarnecki lost his mandate in the most recent European elections, he is no longer protected by the immunity of MEPs.

Politician claims to have known nothing
Czarnecki denies the allegations. It was not he himself, but his staff who filled out the forms for the reimbursement of travel expenses, he wrote on X on Tuesday. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison for the false travel expense claims.