pixie
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A banking genius with Asperger's syndrome and the economics student he tried to help have been given suspended jail terms for cheating in exams.
Former City banker Jerome Drean, 34, and University of York student Elnar Askerov, 23, each received nine month terms suspended for two years.
Drean netted £20,000 for posing as Askerov using a fake ID card, York Crown Court heard.
Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the university.
The court heard that Drean had worked at the Bank of America and Credit Suisse and earned about £2m in three years.
Robert Smith QC, for Drean, said Askerov, who was described as "not particularly bright academically", asked Drean to sit his exams and paid him between £200 and £1,000 each time.
They were found out in May last year when an exam invigilator noticed that someone was preparing to sit the exam who was not on the course and that Askerov was not present.
Drean told police his motivation was "money and not wanting to let a friend down", but Mr Smith said his actions were "profoundly influenced by his disorder".
He said: "He displays a genius but also displays a lack of insight in ordinary social norms."
He said Drean was spoken of highly in the financial industry, but would never be employed by a major bank again.
Both men, from London, were also sentenced to undertake a maximum of 300 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay costs of £1,360 each.
Judge Stephen Ashurst made a confiscation order for Drean to pay £16,000. He has already repaid £4,000.
Sentencing the men, he described this as a "highly unusual case".
"This conduct, and your conduct in particular, must be deeply offensive to the thousands of diligent students who do work hard," he said.
STORY HERE
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