UnI was closed by order of the state education authorities in 2007, due to pedagogical and financial irregularities.
[1] In 2006, UnI came under investigation on alleged irregularities on several matters, relating to both its academics and management.
[2] In early 2007, it had entered into talks about possible merger with the Universidade Internacional, another private university;[3] however, on 9 April 2007, the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Mariano Gago, announced that UnI would be shut down by the Portuguese Government after the investigation reported serious pedagogical, ethical and financial irregularities.
[1] Following the investigation, twenty-six principles at Universidade Independente were indicted, and twenty-four brought to trial for their part in its mismanagement.
[2][6][7] Rui Verde,[8] who is currently a professor at Oxford University, the editor at the journalism platform MakaAngola headed by Rafael Marques de Morais and a former vice-rector at the Independent University, was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months suspended prison sentence for falsifying documents, forgery and qualified tax fraud.