Prospective supervisory board members of Polish public companies have purchased MBA diplomas a university to circumvent state examinations. But recent allegations against the rector have exposed a wider operation of alleged organized crime and political corruption. As a result, the fraudulent MBAs will no longer be recognized.
In Poland, a law requiring new members to supervisory boards of state companies to pass an exam was discreetly amended in 2017. The law included MBA diplomas as a sufficient certification to qualify for eligibility, facilitating access to high-level positions in Polish public companies.
The decision appears to have been consciously made to facilitate the appointment process to the boards following a consistent decline in the number of people passing the state exam. In 2014, only 302 out of 681 individuals passed; in 2015, the number dropped to 285 out of 886; in 2016, it was 375 out of 966.
In 2017, to solve this problem, the government of Beata Szydo introduced the possibility of circumventing the previously required exam. The decision was immediately impactful: the number of people passing the exam decreased dramatically, hitting a record low in 2023 with 90 people, of which only 14 passed.
Candidates for supervisory board members instead obtained their MBA diplomas from the Collegium Humanum, a private university in Warsaw, rather than pass the state test. However, a mass trade of MBA diplomas followed, leading to accusations of bribery for invalid certificates.
Rzeczpospolita, a daily Polish economic and legal paper, reported yesterday that the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, the right-wing populist party, used State Treasury-controlled companies to strengthen its political power, choosing nominees that are loyal to the authorities on the supervisory boards.
These managerial positions in public companies normally require at least a Ph.D. in economics, law, or technical sciences. The purchase of fraudulent certificates of postgraduate studies raises questions about the effectiveness of the appointments to important positions, such as to the supervisory board of State Treasury-controlled companies.
Diplomas from an organized criminal group
Paweł Czarnecki, the founder and former rector of Collegium Humanum, was detained by the Central Anticorruption Bureau on February 22nd for 30 crimes, including accepting a bribe of 1 million złoty (250,220 dollars) in exchange for distributing over a thousand MBA diplomas.
Czarnecki, accused of leading a criminal group, also faces charges for persuading witnesses to give false testimony, sexual exploitation of power dynamics, and abuse towards others.
In addition to the rector, seven other people suspected of being part of the organized criminal group operating at the Collegium were arrested.
In response, the Government Information Center announced a few days ago that the Council of Companies with participation with the State Treasury will no longer recognize MBA diplomas from Collegium Humanum when appointing new members to boards of directors for public companies.
The scandal is being settled by the Silesian Department of National Prosecutors Office. Czarnecki’s recent decision to cooperate with the office has exposed the extent of the trade as a large-scale operation, with certificates being obtained within a mere 48 hours for a program of at least 3 semesters.
A “rubbish diploma”
Personal accounts about experiences at this university further exemplify the fraudulent nature of the diplomas. Krzysztof, a student at Collegium Humanum, reported to WP Finance that he had “never seen such a strange university” and belittled his qualification as a “rubbish diploma.”
Although 25,000 students are officially registered at the university, journalists for WP Finance visited the grounds and reported that it was deserted, with students coming only to stamp their student cards once a day.
They found that the requirements for students were minimal, with most classes being held online and professors making little effort to engage meaningfully with students.
A turn of events for the politics of Poland
The University has notably trained many PiS members but also members of the new coalition government.
Journalists of Gazeta Wyborcza, a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, have demanded a full list of government officials with diplomas from Collegium Humanum. But the mayor of Wejherowo is refusing to divulge this information and has extended the deadline to April 30th, which is after the local government elections.
After a fiercely conservative rule of 8 years, the Law and Justice party finally lost its majority in December 2023, with a high-turnout election expressing discontent toward the party’s governance, characterized by an erosion of democratic judicial processes.
Furious with the stain that this scandal risks imposing on his centrist Civic Coalition government, the new prime minister Donald Tusk has announced that certificates from Collegium Humanum will not be recognized for posts in state companies.
Mr. Tusk took office promising to restore democratic standards to the country and intended to depoliticize state companies.
