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City banker admits fraud to help exam cheat
A HIGH-FLYING City banker has admitted posing as a university student to help him cheat in examinations.
Jerome Drean, 34, who has held senior investment banking positions with the Bank of America and Credit Suisse, posed as 22-year-old economics student Elnar Askerov on eight separate occasions, using a fake ID card.
The pair's fraud succeeded despite any lack of physical resemblance between them.
In the dock at York Crown Court yesterday, pale, skinny Frenchman Drean stood alongside heavily-built, dark-skinned Askerov to admit their deception at York University, between January 2006 and May last year.
Last summer, Drean was head of European equity derivatives trading at Credit Suisse but left after five weeks when the exam claims first emerged.
Both men jointly pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring to defraud York University, by obtaining a fake ID card in the name of Askerov and allowing Drean to sit the exams.
This case follows a similar but unrelated offence committed by York University student Qiu Shi Zhang and accomplice Xian Zhang on the same course.
Qiu Shi had panicked the night before his exam and persuaded his friend to sit the paper – despite the pair having little physical resemblance to each other. Last May at York Magistrates' Court they pleaded guilty to fraud and were sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
Yesterday Drean and Askerov pleaded not guilty to eight charges of using the false ID with intent and Drean denied one charge of acquiring 16,000 of criminal property and one charge of possessing 4,000 of criminal property.
Judge Stephen Ashurst ordered all these charges to lie on file.
The judge told Drean and Askerov: "The fact you have admitted the offence goes in your favour, but this is an unusual and serious case of dishonesty. I want you to both understand, and you are clearly intelligent men, that all sentencing options including custody will be considered."
In mitigation for Askerov, who now lives in London, Alexander Cameron QC told the court the men had not realised what they had done was a criminal offence.
Judge Ashurst adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports to be prepared. The men will discover their punishment next month.
Drean, who now lives abroad, has already repaid 4,000 owed to York University and has 56 days to repay a further 16,000.
A university spokesman said he was unable to comment until after the conclusion of the case.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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