Cuba Sends 6 Teachers to Jail for Academic Fraud

Senior high school students.

HAVANA TIMES — A Havana municipal court sentenced seven Cubans (six teachers and a printer) for the selling of university entrance exams, reported Granma newspaper.

The court found the defendants guilty of theft, disclosure of tests and illicit economic activities under the Cuban Penal Code.

The sentences ranged from 1 1/2 to 8 years. Leonardo Mosés the printer of the exams received 8 years, and the teachers Karel Lopez and Arian Valdes (4 years), Daisy Marquez (3 years), Barbara M Gomez (2 years 6 months) Lazaro Fernandez A (2 years), and Victor Romero (1 year and 6 months).

The defendants must also reimburse the Ministry of Higher Education for a total of 28,641 pesos (1,430 USD), and the University of Havana in the amount of 290 thousand pesos (14,500 USD) for the damages caused. How they can pay those fines without work or even with an average $20 a month job was not stated.