The business of politicians' fake résumés (II, PP)

The issue of fictitious university transcripts and fake résumés affects all political parties. Partido Popular is also one of them, where several of its deputies have claimed that they possessed several degrees they never obtained.

One of the most prominent cases in recent months is that of the current PP president, Pablo Casado, whose three university degrees are under investigation: a law degree from Cardenal Cisneros, a business administration degree from URJC, and the official master's degree in Autonomous and Local Law from URJC. Both UCM and URJC in Madrid have provided the Investigative Court Number 51 of Madrid, which is handling the case, with documentation that certifies Casado's academic training. However, Judge Carmen Rodríguez-Medel has found indications of criminality in the acquisition of these university degrees. She has sent the case to the Supreme Court to assess whether Casado has committed serious irregularities in obtaining them.

 

Pablo Casado at a PP rally | PP

Meanwhile, the president of Partido Popular is surrounded by party politicians who have falsified their résumés. One of them is his right-hand man Javier Maroto. On Partido Popular's website, there was a master's degree in Public Management and Administration listed as being held by the Basque deputy: master's degree in Public Management and Administration. This is a degree that the politician from Vitoria himself stated he did not have. What Maroto actually has is a course in Public Leadership.

The case of former Madrid president Cristina Cifuentes was also highly publicized. Her case is similar to that of Pablo Casado, having obtained a master's degree without attending classes and based on alleged fictitious assignments. After resigning from the Madrid presidency, not for her actions regarding the master's degree but for having stolen some creams years earlier, Cristina Cifuentes's situation within the "master's case" is at a standstill pending the decisions Judge Rodríguez-Medel will make once the round of statements from the accused and witnesses has concluded.

 

Cristina Cifuentes | EFE

Disappearance of degrees from the biographies of several deputies

Another degree that was removed from the master's scandal was that of the current president of Congress, Ana Pastor. This became a "trending topic" on social media last April. In Ana Pastor's biography and résumé, it disappeared that she had a master's degree in "Business Administration". This degree vanished into limbo.

Another well-known PP representative from the Rajoy era, Javier Moragas, until mid-July last year the Spanish representative at the UN, also had to delete part of his résumé. In his biography, it could be seen that he claimed to have a master's degree in International Relations issued by the Center for International Studies in Barcelona. This degree, like Pastor's, ended up disappearing.

Just like Pastor and Moragas, there are also cases of data deletions among other PP politicians. These are the cases of the deputy for Las Palmas, Guillermo Mariscal Anaya, and the deputy for Murcia, Isabel María Borrego Cortés. The former had to delete from his biography a master's degree in Energy Business and Law from the Instituto Superior de Energía located on the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid. Meanwhile, the latter had to "get rid of" her degree in Real Estate Law from the Real Centro Universitario Escorial María Cristina.

Another significant case was that of the deputy for Zaragoza and former PP spokesperson in the city council of that same city, Eloy Suarez. The former Zaragoza city councilor claimed to have in his possession two master's degrees, one in Accounting and Auditing from the University of Zaragoza and another in Public Management at the Institute of Higher Business Studies (IESE). However, he had to immediately delete them from his résumé. There is also a third master's degree in Agricultural Law on the Zaragoza City Council website, but after cleaning up his résumé, it is not found on the Congress website.

The mayor of Santander, also implicated

The current mayor of Santander, Gema Igual, who replaced former Minister of Public Works Íñigo de la Serna, experienced something similar to what happened to the socialist Estela Goikoetxea. The young PSOE hopeful from Cantabria stated "by mistake" that she had a degree in Biotechnology. This fact cost her political career. The same did not happen with the PP mayor in Santander, who stated in her résumé that she had a diploma in teaching from the University of Cantabria.

Upon learning of Goikoetxea's resignation, she deleted the diploma and instead stated that she had studies in teaching. She did not resign and remains the mayor of Santander.

Falsification of résumés for years

In 2012, the former Secretary of State for Social Security and deputy in the Cortes for Valladolid, Tomás Burgos, acknowledged that there was an error in his résumé, as it listed a degree in Medicine from the University of Valladolid and that he was a doctor. There was a case where even a spokesperson for the Ministry of Employment and Social Security defended Burgos, claiming that "he had never said he was a doctor, that he had not falsified his résumé and that he had never acted in bad faith." Some time later, the former senior PP official had to gradually delete several degrees he claimed to have, but which were actually false. Among these academic certificates he had to eliminate are: a diploma in Health Institution Management from IESE and an executive master's degree in Health Management from the Antonio de Nebrija University in Madrid.

The oldest case of all is that of the current senator for Málaga and Honorary President of Partido Popular in the Andalusian city, Joaquín Ramírez. In 2007 it was discovered that his résumé listed a law degree from the University of Granada. He kept it for the last four legislatures despite not having completed those higher studies. He finally obtained it after passing the subject of Private International Law, which was the one he was missing to graduate, a degree he boasted about for many years without actually having it until he finally obtained it.

 

Joaquín Ramírez in the Senate | EFE

These are some significant examples of the business of fake résumés that affect Partido Popular politicians.