Real life Suits: Brisbane mum busted using fake degree to teach kids

A Brisbane mum busted forging a uni degree and using it to work as an early childhood teacher has been compared to the television character Mike Ross in the hit legal show Suits.

Angela McKinnon on a charge of fraud by an employee in excess of $100,000 and uttering forged documents leaves Brisbane Supreme court. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / John Gass

A woman busted forging a university degree and using it to work as an early childhood teacher for more than 18 months has been compared to the television character Mike Ross in the hit legal show Suits.

Angela Marie McKinnon forged a fake degree from the Queensland University of Technology and used it to secure a teaching position she was not qualified to hold at a G8 Education child care centre on Brisbane’s south side.

Angela McKinnon leaves the Brisbane District Court. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / John Gass

Crown Prosecutor Joshua Francis said McKinnon, now aged 53, managed to work for 18 months and earn almost $40,000 more than she was entitled to before she was busted in August 2021.

Her lies came to light when routine checks by Education Queensland raised red flags.

Further inquiries with QUT revealed no records of a student by her name and that the student identification number on her fake degree was made up.

The mother-of one pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court on Wednesday to a charge of fraud as employee in excess of $30,000 and one count of uttering a forged document.

“She uttered a forged QUT university degree and academic transcripts when applying for an early childhood teaching position which she was able to obtain after three interviews,” Mr Francis said.

“She worked in that role thereafter for a year and a half without the required qualification and that then earned her about $39,000 more than she would have earned as early childhood assistant.”

Defence barrister Lachlan Ygoa-McKeown said there were few comparable cases to be found of similar offending but said the crime was reminiscent of the plot line of the hit television show Suits

The show, which starred Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, followed a character named Mike Ross who pretended to have a Harvard law degree while illegally working as a lawyer.

Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht in the TV series: Suits.

Mr Ygoa-McKeown said McKinnon was committed to repaying the $39,000 debt to G8 Education for the money she dishonestly obtained.

He said she was genuinely remorseful for her offending and now sought mental health support.

In a letter tendered to the court McKinnon apologised to G8 Education, the children she had taught and their families.

Judge John Coker sentenced her to concurrent terms of three years and 12 months’ imprisonment, immediately suspended for three years.

She was also ordered to repay the entirety of the money fraudulently obtained.

Judge Coker said such offending struck at the heart of society and said the community expected people working in positions such as teachers, lawyers and nurses to have the relevant qualifications.