Earned £10k
A fraudster has received a suspended prison sentence after using a fake law degree certificate to secure legal roles.
Gloucester Crown Court heard how Aditya Rai forged academic certificates claiming he had completed an LLB, and backed this up with a false CV to secure jobs at three different firms — two based in Gloucestershire and one in-house legal role at a construction company in Bristol.
Rai earned around £10,000 from short-term roles as a legal assistant and paralegal. He resigned from one firm and was dismissed from another after failing reference checks.
The court also heard how the 43-year-old was able to secure a UK driving licence under the name Ali Ryan, but with a photo of himself and false date of birth, according to Gloucestershire police. He was then able to apply for two bank accounts under the false name
Rai admitted three counts of fraud by false representation, possessing/controlling false identity documents with intent and using a false instrument with intent it be accepted as genuine. He also accepted a further forgery relating to a false Irish driving licence.
The court heard that the fraudulent behaviour was persistent and prolonged, with law firms unknowingly employing someone who was not qualified to work there.
In mitigation, Rai’s defence barrister said how the offences were committed during the Covid lockdown when he had no financial support and that there was little stability for him to earn money in a legitimate sense.
His Honour Judge Ian Lawrie KC said that Rai had “been a busy boy in terms of dishonesty” and “divulged in a rather elaborate sequence of steps to defraud people of his identity”.
At a sentencing hearing on 30 April, Judge Lawrie handed down a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. Rai was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Lawrie said: “You have brought additional burdens on your family, you’re thoroughly responsible. You are a dishonest person and you took three jobs with legal firms completely misleading them about what you were doing.”