Italian Professor Jailed for 10 Years Over Student Bribery Scandal

AN ITALIAN professor has been jailed for 10 years over a student bribery scandal in which he charged thousands of euro for passing exam grades.

Antonio Patruno taught structural theory and statistics at the architectural faculty of Rome’s famous La Sapienza university, where he allegedly charged students huge sums of cash to secure passing exam grades.

The 76-year old, now retired, carried out his bribery conspiracy between April 2010 and June 2011 and has now been sentenced to ten years in prison by a Rome court. Prosecutors proved that the disgraced academic charged his students between 300 and 4000 euro to secure passing grades in exams, as well as carrying out other illegal services according to Italy’s Il Messaggero newspaper.

Students could pay large sums to have their thesis written by a team of secret ghostwriters employed by Patruno, who would also offer exclusive illicit private classes for 50 euro an hour. At least 25 students availed of his pricey and illegal services over the course of a year and the scandal came to light when one of his graduates secretly recorded the professor explaining his conspiracy.

During lengthy legal proceedings which have only recently concluded, the professor sought a reduced sentence but this was denied by a Roman court in 2014. The disgraced academic will spend the next decade behind bars.

Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “Italian Professor Jailed for 10 Years Over Student Bribery Scandal”. For more UK daily news, Spanish daily news and Global news stories, visit the Euro Weekly News home page.