An Indian immigrant used a fake certificate to claim she was qualified to work as a nurse in Adelaide, and then lied in court to try to avoid justice.
Harpreet Kaur, 33, a qualified nurse in India who failed her Australian certification three times, initially pleaded guilty in 2024 to two counts of claiming to be a health practitioner, but then withdrew the pleas last year.
She claimed she did not know her registration certificate was fake and told her trial she had been scammed by an online “guru” who charged her $10,000 for training and the certificate.
But Magistrate Luke Davis found on Friday that Kaur had lied under oath in her testimony to the Christies Beach Magistrates Court, and said she was in fact “in cahoots with the “elusive, shadowy figure of the guru”, and knew her actions were wrong, The Advertiser reported.
Magistrate Davis found Kaur guilty of both counts, and told the court she told “outright lies to cover up her guilt”.
“While it’s unfortunate and notorious that people of all ages fall victim to internet scams, there’s an avalanche of evidence pointing to guilt,” he said.
“I don’t accept Kaur as an honest witness … she was evasive and unconvincing, giving ridiculous answers I found inconceivable [and] absolutely ludicrous.
“I find that the document itself was obviously false, bogus, doctored and was easily seen to be so … one could not help but notice.”
Kaur now faces a maximum three years in jail and a fine of $60,000, and will appear in court again next month for sentencing.
Header image: Kaur outside court (The Advertiser).
