CCAC investigates UM PhD candidate bribery

The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has concluded its investigation into a University of Macau (UM) doctoral candidate who tried to bribe a UM professor.

The PhD student is suspected of bribery under the Penal Code, and the CCAC has referred the case to the Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation, the anti-corruption watchdog has said in a press statement.

It is unclear when the alleged crime occurred, but the CCAC learned about the case from the professor’s complaint, who claimed a PhD student he was supervising offered a bribe to be granted the degree although he had failed to submit his thesis proposal.

The CCAC’s investigation found the mainland student had been admitted to UM’s Faculty of Law, but was unable to submit his Ph.D. thesis proposal by the deadline.

According to the university’s regulations, a student failing to submit a thesis proposal within three years of registration must discontinue their studies.

The professor told the CCAC that close to the deadline, the supervisor had found a book in his mailbox that he had given the student. Inside it was a red envelope (Lai Si) containing an undisclosed sum in cash.

The professor contacted the university’s administrative staff and together they met the student, who confessed he had intended to give cash to the supervisor.

The same professor said this was not the first time the student had tried to bribe the supervisor, seeking unlawful help.

He said after the student was admitted to the university, he had also tried to give the professor shopping vouchers worth several thousand patacas.

At the time, the professor had rejected the offer and had warned the student not to repeat the unlawful behavior.