Coopers Plains cosmetic nurse’s fake driver ploy ends in tribunal reprimand

A Brisbane cosmetic nurse, who pleaded guilty to fraud for using fake drivers to avoid traffic fines, has been reprimanded and ordered to undertake an ethics training order.

A Coopers Plains cosmetic nurse was reprimanded and ordered to undertake an ethics course after using fake names to take the rap for her speeding and traffic fines. Picture: Nefertiti Skin Studio website

A Brisbane cosmetic nurse learned the hard way that making up fake drivers to take the blame for her speeding and traffic fines could cause much bigger problems than the original penalties.

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal publicly reprimanded 33-year-old Coopers Plains cosmetic nurse Shuang Ma in March after Judicial Member Richard Jones found her actions amounted to serious fraud and counted as professional misconduct.

Ma’s car was caught by speed and red-light cameras 18 times between February 2018 and June 2022.

Each time, instead of accepting the fines and demerit points, she blamed other people by submitting false statutory declarations naming different drivers.

She used five fake names over six months.

Each name had a Chinese-language driver’s licence number and a Brisbane address.

When authorities checked Australian Border Force records they found none of the named drivers had ever entered Australia.

Inside the Coopers Plains skin studio. Picture: Nefertiti Skin Studio

Detectives from the Road Policing Investigation Unit were already tracking a pay-to-nominate scam run from overseas and quickly saw Ma’s case matched that scheme.

The police examined her bank records and messages, finding that she regularly sent small payments to an organiser every time she received a new traffic fine.

When police confronted Ma with the evidence, she admitted to the using scheme.

She said she paid money so a fake person could be named as the driver.

Police charged her with 36 offences with 18 for making false declarations and 18 for fraud.

She pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, with the remaining 35 charges dropped. She agreed to help police by testifying against the leaders of the scam when she appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court in January 2024.

Because she had no previous record and co-operated with authorities, the magistrate fined her $2000 and did not record a conviction.

But because she is a registered nurse, the Office of the Health Ombudsman took the case to QCAT, asking for a one-month suspension and a reprimand.

QCAT in March disagreed with the suspension.

Judicial Member Jones said the tribunal’s role was to protect the public, not to punish someone again after the court had already done so.

He added that a short suspension would not send a stronger message than the public reprimand.

The popular Coopers Plains cosmetic business. Picture: Nefertiti Skin Studio

The tribunal formally reprimanded Ma, and listed her name on the national nursing register where patients and future employers can see it.

They also ordered her to complete an approved ethics course focused on professional responsibility.

She must enrol in the course within one month and, after finishing it, submit a report explaining how she will use what she learned.

QCAT will review her progress after six months to make sure she follows the rules.

While the tribunal condemned her fraud, it also accepted that she wanted to keep her driver’s licence so she could continue driving clients and supplies to Nefertiti Skin Studio, a clinic she runs with her husband in Coopers Plains.

She is also a mother supporting a young child.

Member Jones ended the decision with a clear warning: making up drivers to avoid demerit points might seem like a quick fix now, but it can damage a professional reputation for many years.

Originally published as Coopers Plains cosmetic nurse’s fake driver ploy ends in tribunal reprimand