Woman jailed for getting jobs with forged NTU degree, says she faced economic and parental pressure

Fonseka Wannerichega Hema Ranjini faced pressure from her mother and also economic pressure to get a job that would help her maintain her livelihood and support her parents, her lawyer said.

SINGAPORE: A woman who forged an engineering degree from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and used it to secure multiple editing jobs over 16 years was sentenced to eight months' jail on Wednesday (Dec 6).

Her lawyer told the court that she had forged the degree to "placate" her mother, who placed psychological pressure on her. The offender also faced the economic pressure of having to earn a sufficient salary to support herself and her parents, said Fonseka Wannerichega Hema Ranjini's lawyer.

Fonseka, a 44-year-old Singaporean, had pleaded guilty last month to two charges of cheating and one count of forgery, with another two charges taken into consideration.

Fonseka had matriculated at NTU in 1998, studying mechanical and production engineering. However, she struggled with the work and the fees, so she withdrew from the programme in 2004.

The woman, whose lawyer later said that her mother had cut funding for her schooling, forged a Bachelor of Engineering degree from NTU with third-class honours in 2004.

She used the forged cert to obtain multiple jobs over the years, first taking on a role as an assistant managing editor at Marshall Cavendish Education for S$4,200 a month.

Other jobs she acquired with the cert include an assistant managing editor role at Scholastic Education International (Singapore), Cengage Learning Asia and Oxygen Studio Designs.

Her highest monthly salary was S$6,800 with an additional transport allowance of S$1,084 a month from the Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia), where she worked as a learning editor in publishing until the company discovered her forged cert after making checks.

CONSIDERABLE SALARY EARNED: DPP

On Wednesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Heng sought eight to 10 months' jail for Fonseka, highlighting her effort in making the cert appear genuine and the fact that she obtained five jobs with it over 16 years.

"With each successive application, she was able to legitimise her resume, indicating her educational qualifications, and in doing so continue deceiving employers," said Ms Heng.

She said Fonseka earned a "considerable salary" in the regions of S$47,000 and S$83,000 for some charges.

When Fonseka's deception was discovered, her response indicated her lack of remorse, said Ms Heng.

Ms Heng did not seek an order of compensation, saying it was hard to quantify the harm caused. However, she said the companies that hired Fonseka did require certain educational qualifications for the jobs offered.

She said the fact that this was present indicated that the employers valued educational qualifications, and it would not be a stretch to say that Fonseka was expected to apply in her jobs training derived from the obtaining of her purported degree.

Defence lawyer Foo Cheow Ming asked for a fine instead, or a very brief jail term if the court did not agree on a fine.

SHE FACED PRESSURE FROM MOTHER: DEFENCE

Mr Foo said the "series of cascading events" began with pressure from Fonseka's mother, who cut off funding for Fonseka's schooling years ago.

"Due to the severe psychological pressure (Fonseka's) mother placed on her self-worth and self-esteem, she took the first step of forging a (degree) in order to placate her mother," said Mr Foo.

"Following that, the economic pressure of having to earn a salary sufficient for her own livelihood and (to) support her own parents led to the usage of the forged (degree)."

He said his client endured "physical and mental abuse" from her mother, who suffers from an undiagnosed personality disorder, but Fonseka's "filial piety remains steadfast" and she continues to care for her parents.

Mr Foo said his client's case could be differentiated from other cheating cases where deception was perpetuated on organs of state and led to a change in the accused person's public or legal status.

While Fonseka's actions helped her obtain jobs she might not have otherwise obtained, Mr Foo said it was "not as if she didn't work at all".

It was also not a situation where she caused "a net total loss" to her employers such as in a case of outright cheating, criminal breach of trust or theft, said Mr Foo.

Fonseka's employers did obtain her services and the value she gave through such services, said the lawyer.

If the allegations are that Fonseka's work was subpar, Mr Foo said that "employing a real graduate is no guarantee against bad or subpar performance on the part of the employee".

Crucially, he said Fonseka did not practise engineering in her jobs, which were largely in the realm of language or editorial sectors, so there was no potential risk to the public, customers or employers.

He said the jail term sought by the prosecution was "excessive and inappropriate".

District Judge Terence Tay said the general principle for financial offences is that the sentence will be heavier for offences where the economic value involved is greater.

"As long as the offence in question causes the victim to part with property that has more than negligible value, a custodial sentence is appropriate," said Judge Tay.

He said the challenge in this case was the harm caused, as Fonseka did in fact work for her employers.

However, he said the degree was the basis on which Fonseka was given employment, and there would have been some differentiation in terms of compensation and expectations of Fonseka's contribution to the companies.

Her offences had also deprived other deserving employees of the jobs she had obtained through cheating, and possibly embarrassed her employers, said the judge.

He said the offences were difficult to detect, and if "this becomes a rampant situation", all employers will have to verify all certificates provided by their employees.

Judge Tay said he was perplexed by Fonseka's purported shame at dropping out of NTU if it was her mother who stopped paying her fees.

"I fail to appreciate how it would in any way excuse her of lying about her educational qualifications, which continued for many years," he said.

While he empathised with Fonseka's family situation, the judge said there was really nothing to suggest that the circumstances had led Fonseka to commit the offences.

He said that while Fonseka performed her work satisfactorily for most of the jobs she held, except for the one at Scholastic, from which she was fired, her offences would have disrupted the companies' pay structures, which are usually pegged to educational qualifications, although this would have been taken over by job performance over time.

"I think it's been well-documented that a degree is not everything," the judge said, adding that Fonseka was relatively young and still had a long future ahead of her.

While some jobs require degrees, others do not, and many people have succeeded in such jobs, said the judge. 

"The accused should explore such other opportunities," he said.

He agreed with the prosecution on not seeking compensation from Fonseka, as the harm caused by the offences is hard to quantify.