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Monika Juneja admitted she posed as a barrister to get
ahead and now faces jail
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A former senior Tory councillor could be
facing jail after admitting she pretended to be a qualified barrister to get
ahead.
Monika
Juneja, 36, who rose to become deputy leader of the Conservative group at
Guildford Borough Council, repeatedly lied about her degree and law
qualifications, a court heard.
Press Association reports:
Juneja
was exposed by constituents living in green belt areas who began looking into
her background after raising a number of complaints and claims over her work
identifying areas of land for development.
In
May, Juneja, of Doverfield Road, Guildford, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to
three counts of forgery dating back to 2000, obtaining pecuniary advantage by
deception, and a charge of "wilfully pretending to be a barrister"
between January 2010 and May last year.
At
an earlier hearing, prosecutor Kate Wilkinson said the defendant had been
dishonest over a period of 14 years by forging her qualifications and
pretending to be a barrister.
In
1997, she began a degree in sociology and law at Greenwich University,
switching midway to just sociology, for which she received a third-class
degree.
She
then set her sights on a bar course but needed at least a second-class degree
to be accepted so she forged a letter from the university to get a place at BPP
Law School.
After
beginning the course in September 2001, Juneja failed three attempts at
successfully completing course modules and was declared not competent in law in
July 2003.
Ms
Wilkinson said she forged a document stating that she had a 2.1 degree in
sociology from Greenwich University, adding: "It is right to say that she
is not entitled to call herself a barrister in any sense."
She
went on to forge at least one document from BPP Law School, stating that she
received a final assessment of very competent in law which, the prosecutor
said, was "very far from the truth".
The
defendant applied for jobs where the law qualification was a real asset and
gave her higher earning potential, Ms Wilkinson said.
In
August 2003, she got work at Bromley Council as a licensing support officer
earning nearly £20,000 a year before leaving in 2006.
Juneja
used that first job as a "springboard" to get more legal work through
recruitment agency Law Absolute.
Using
her false qualifications, she landed a role as planning officer at Tower
Hamlets in November 2007, moving on to the same position with Brighton and Hove
Council in March 2009.
The
court heard that mistakes made while later pretending to be a barrister in
Buckingham and a lawyer at Enfield council could have led to costs of many
thousands of pounds.
In
2011, she maintained her lie to party officials when she ran for election as a
Tory councillor for Guildford Borough Council.
She
was arrested in May last year after constituents complained that she had
misrepresented herself.
Defending,
Howard Godfrey QC said his client had been the victim of a "witch
hunt".
He
said: "She has by her guilty plea evidenced her remorse and regret. She is
a lady of not merely good character but a lady of most outstanding positive
good character in terms of the years of public service she has provided.
"She
has suffered because, while plainly she has behaved improperly and plainly she
has committed a number of criminal offences, she is the victim of a witch hunt
in Guildford as a result of planning policy which she was seeking to put
forward."
Mr
Godfrey said his client was the daughter of Indian immigrants who
"expected great things" from her, ensuring she had the best education
they could manage.
When
she left university with a third-class degree she was "embarrassed"
and "panicked" because her "ambitious" parents had hoped
she would pursue a professional career.
He
added: "The fact of the matter is that, although not qualified as stated,
she was very good at her job."
Juneja, who is on bail, will be sentenced by
judge Gerald Gordon at the Old Bailey this morning.
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