Moderna University

Moderna University (Universidade Moderna) was a Portuguese private university headquartered in Lisbon, with departments in Setúbal, Porto and Beja. The institution was authorized by the Portuguese Ministry of Education to provide university higher education services in 1994 (Decree law: DL 313/94 de 23 de Setembro). It was shut down by the Portuguese Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education in 30 July 2008.^[1]

Moderna affair

The Moderna Affair (Caso Moderna) was a large fraud in Moderna University, which led to a criminal investigation that started in March 1999. It resulted in 13 indictments for a total of 183 crimes, issued by the public prosecutor. In the final sentence in November 2003, José Braga Gonçalves (12 years, later in June 2004 reduced to 7 years and 6 months) and Pedro Garcia Rosado (3 years, later in June 2004 reduced to 2 years), were the only convictions. José Braga Gonçalves, administrator at the university, was son of José Júlio Gonçalves who was the former rector of the university and also an administrator. Pedro Garcia Rosado served at the Portuguese Ministry of Education as an assessor.

2007 investigations

In 2007, the university was on the brink of being closed by the Portuguese ministry responsible for higher education in Portugal, after reports of several irregularities arise during a state-managed investigation on private higher education in the country.^[2] It was closed in the summer of 2008.

See also

• Diploma mill
• Higher education in Portugal
• Independente University

References

1. ^ (Portuguese) [1], Destak.pt
2. ^ Pedro Sousa Tavares - Governo desencadeia saneamento das privadas, "Moderna sob investigação", in Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese)

External links

• Official site