Leading politicians to face trial over links to Polish university accused of corruptly issuing MBAs

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Prosecutors have issued the first indictments in a fraud and corruption scandal surrounding a private university that has drawn in prominent political figures. Among those indicted today is the mayor of Poland’s third-largest city, two former members of the European Parliament, and a former presidential spokesman.

The case pertains to Collegium Humanum, a university that is alleged to have corruptly issued diplomas without requiring recipients to actually study for them. Many leading politicians and other officials used the college to obtain MBAs, which then helped them secure lucrative positions at state-owned companies.

Suspicions about the university first emerged in 2020, following the publication of investigations by Polityka and Newsweek, two leading news magazines. Prosecutors subsequently launched an investigation and today announced that they have filed the first indictments against 29 people.

The National Prosecutor’s Office notes that the suspects include politicians, officers of the state fire services, as well as university rectors, professors and lecturers. They are collectively accused of 67 crimes, mostly relating to alleged corruption involving the issuing of false diplomas.

“Searches at the university’s premises confirmed a widespread practice, encompassing not only irregularities in the issuance of postgraduate MBA diplomas, but also bachelor’s and master’s degree diplomas,” wrote the prosecutors.

“A criminal mechanism was revealed, indicating that documenting fictitious studies and issuing unreliable certificates was possible thanks to the complicity of the Collegium Humanum rector, university staff and other individuals, including those holding public positions in state and local government institutions.”

Among those indicted today is Jacek Sutryk, the mayor of Wrocław (who has waived his right to the anonymity normally granted suspects under Polish law). He is facing four charges relating to fraud and corruption.

Prosecutors say that Sutryk, who is technically an independent but is aligned with Poland’s current ruling coalition, paid 9,500 zloty (€2,243) in tuition fees to receive an MBA, but did not actually undertake any of the required studies.

In return, the then rector of Collegium Humanum, named as Paweł Cz. by prosecutors, was given a position on the council of a municipal technology park in Wrocław for which he was paid 75,000 zloty for advisory services that he did not actually provide.

The prosecutors say that Sutryk was able to use his MBA to qualify for positions on the supervisory boards of three municipal companies, for which he received remuneration totalling over 495,000 zloty.

In a statement to financial news website Money.pl after today’s announcement, Sutryk – who faces up to eight years in prison if convicted – denied the accusations aaginst him and said that he would fight in court to clear his name.

Another of those indicted is Ryszard Czarnecki, a former MEP for Law and Justice (PiS), Poland’s main opposition party, and his wife, named as Emilia H. They are jointly accused of two crimes relating to corrupt payments and money laundering involving Collegium Humanum.

Another former PiS MEP, Karol Karski, is accused of accepting financial benefits from Paweł Cz. in return for helping obtain a positive opinion from the foreign ministry for Collegium Humanum’s overseas expansion.

Błażej Spychalski, a PiS politician who served as spokesman for former President Andrzej Duda, is also accused of corruptly obtaining MBAs for himself and his wife, who used her diploma to earn over 56,000 zloty serving on the boards of a hospital and military technology office.

Karski, Czarnecki and Spychalski have not yet commented on today’s indictments. But all have previously denied wrongdoing.

Since a change to the law in 2017, holding an MBA has been a way to meet the requirements necessary to sit on the boards of a state-owned enterprise.

Collegium Humanum, which was founded in 2018, has been accused of exploiting this by effectively becoming a degree factory to provide MBAs for officials wanting to hold such positions.

Last year, the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, who is a member of Civic Coalition (KO), Poland’s main ruling party, ordered all municipal officials with degrees from Collegium Humanum (which last year changed its name to Varsovia University) to take a new exam if they wished to retain their positions.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: MSWiA (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.