Former councillor and council employee pleads guilty to pretending to be barrister

A former councillor at Guildford Borough Council has pleaded guilty this month to a charge of wilfully pretending to be a barrister.

Monika Juneja of Doverfield Road, Guildford also pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to three charges of forgery and one of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.

According to a report on the BBC, Juneja admitted giving false qualifications to Bromley Council, and constructing false letters from the University of Greenwich and BPP Law School giving deals of qualifications she did not hold. This took place between July 2000 and May 2014.

Three other counts of fraud, relating to information provided to recruitment agencies, were ordered to lie on file.

The BBC reported prosecutor Kate Wilkinson as saying that Juneja had repeatedly lied about her degree and law qualifications. The defendant had failed course modules at law school but forged a document saying she was competent in law.

The Old Bailey was told that Juneja used fake qualifications to secure work at a number of local authorities in lawyer and council officer roles.

The defendant’s lawyer, Howard Godfrey QC, said her guilty pleas showed remorse and she had given years of public service. He also said she had panicked when given a third-class degree, given her parents' high expectations.

Juneja, who had previously denied all charges, will be sentenced next month.

At one stage the lead councillor for planning at Guildford, Juneja did not seek re-election earlier this month.

A spokeswoman for Guildford said it had no comment to make in respect of the trial.