Bologna – A veritable "diploma market" that, in exchange for payment, guaranteed students passing their high school diplomas. This is what the Bologna Financial Police discovered at the end of an investigation coordinated by Public Prosecutor Stefano Dambruoso, which resulted today in the execution of a precautionary seizure order issued by investigating judge Andrea Romito.
The Guardia di Finanza (Fiamme Gialle) is operating in the provinces of Bologna, Rome, Florence, Fermo, and Naples, following up on an investigation centered on the Marconi Institute, a well-known Bologna-based study center specializing in recovering school years.
According to investigators, the school was the linchpin of an illicit system that, thanks to the complicity of private institutions in the Marche and Campania regions, allowed students to obtain a diploma "quick and easy," upon payment of approximately 6.000 euros.
Ten people are currently under investigation for various charges of criminal conspiracy, corruption , and false ideology. Investigators have reconstructed a complex organization: on one side, compliant school administrators; on the other, a network of intermediaries described as veritable education brokers, charged with promoting private schools and recruiting Bolognese students seeking a fast-track high school diploma.
The investigating judge ordered the precautionary seizure of two companies based in Bologna, including the one that manages the Marconi Institute, and the company that controls an alleged diploma mill in Saviano, in the province of Naples. The private school in Fermo, in the Marche region, had already been placed under judicial administration as part of the previous investigation that had engulfed the Leonardo Da Vinci School. Furthermore, €90.000 was seized from three suspects and the companies involved.
According to the Guardia di Finanza, the organization not only directed students to "complicit" schools, but also produced false certificates of transferable skills and orientation (PCTO) programs, a prerequisite for admission to state exams. Furthermore, false self-declarations of residence in various municipalities in Campania were allegedly prepared to simulate regular class attendance.
The illicit scheme extended to the final exams themselves. Investigators say students were given undated written assignments to complete, allowing private schools to "adjust" the documentation as they saw fit. Finally, report cards were filled out with false statements from the school principals involved.
The Guardia di Finanza operation thus sheds light on a new chapter in the phenomenon of so-called diploma mills, a system that had already emerged last year with the investigation into the "Leonardo Da Vinci School," which revealed the weaknesses of controls and the flaws in a sector particularly exposed to pressure from those willing to pay illegal shortcuts just to obtain a degree.
The article is very interesting and highlights a serious problem in the education system. It's worrying to see how people can exploit the situation to make easy money. We hope there are stricter measures to prevent this illegal behavior.