If you’re ever tempted to lie on your CV, don’t! The Supreme Court has ruled that CV fraudsters must pay back at least part of their wages if they are caught falsifying qualifications and experience, a decision that has cost Jon Andrewes over £96k.
Jon Andrewes, 69, worked for more than a decade in various senior health jobs, including chairman of two NHS trusts and chief executive of a hospice after pretending to have a PhD and a master’s degree and lying about his work history. After his “staggering lies” were uncovered, Andrewes – who earned more than £1m from his various roles – pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception and two counts of fraud in January 2017.
Originally, a Court of Appeal ruled that Andrewes should not have to pay back his earnings, however the Supreme Court hearing, which cited the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, ordered that part of the disgraced executive’s salary must be repaid.
The court noted that a total confiscation of wages would be disproportionate as Andrewes had performed his role satisfactorily, but also that “a person of honesty and integrity” had been sought for his roles. The justices said Andrewes would not have landed the roles if the truth about his qualifications was known, so it would be correct to confiscate the difference between the higher earnings made as a result of the fraud and the lower earnings the defendant would have made if fraud hadn’t taken place.
As a result, Andrewes was ordered to pay £96,737.24 of the £643,602.91 he unlawfully received during his employment.
