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SPAIN-ITALY-UNIVERSITY-POLITICS
Spain ‘mastergate’ university faces new degree giveaway claims
MADRID, Sept 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A Spanish university already accused of
gifting degrees to high-profile politicians is also being probed for
allegedly giving away diplomas to hundreds of Italian nationals, a court
spokesman said Thursday.
A court in Madrid is investigating whether around 500 Italians received
express law diplomas from the King Juan Carlos University, the spokesman
said.
The Italians were granted the degrees despite having little knowledge of
Spanish, according to media reports.
In a scandal dubbed “Mastergate”, the university already faces claims of
gifting degrees to politicians by allegedly awarding them good grades without
them turning up for class.
The allegations forced the resignation of Cristina Cifuentes, former head
of the Madrid region, in April and ex-health minister Carmen Monton earlier
this month.
The new leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, who
has a Master’s degree from the university’s now-closed Institute of Public
Law, is also under fire.
The court spokesman said Thursday that the latest probe was at a “very
early stage.”
He said the Italians are thought to have used the degrees to sign up to the
Bar Association of Madrid (ICAM) and possibly that of other Spanish cities.
With the diploma — a validation of a Bachelor’s degree already done in
Italy — and the bar association, they could then practice law in all
European Union member states, according to online daily Eldiario.es.
This allows aspiring lawyers in Italy to get around the expensive Master’s
degree usually required in their home country before they are able to
practice, it reported.
Citing sources close to the probe, the website said the Italian nationals
would make “express” trips to Madrid to pass exams without knowing much
Spanish, sometimes taking in a Real Madrid game on their trip.
In a statement, the Bar Association of Madrid told AFP the case was not
“attributable to ICAM but to the King Juan Carlos University” and the
government.
Since the ‘mastergate’ scandal broke, the university has closed its
Institute of Public Law and filed a complaint for alleged misuse of funds
involving former director Enrique Alvarez Conde.
Spanish radio Cadena Ser has also revealed that Alvarez and his deputy in
the institute allegedly received unexplained money transfers of close to
200,000 euros ($230,000) between 2012 and May this year.
BSS/AFP/RY/1702 hrs