Australian Woman Sentenced to Jail for Lying on Her Resume to Land $185,000 Job

If you are searching for a job, learn from the mistakes of Veronica Hilda Theriault and don’t lie on your resume. 

Theriault, 46, was convicted Tuesday of deception, dishonesty, and abuse of public office for lying on her resume to land a job as chief information officer in South Australia’s Department of the Premier and Cabinet where she would earn an annual salary of $185,000, CNN reports.

In addition to submitting a fraudulent resume that contained false information about her education and past employment, Theriault pretended to be a previous employer during a reference check, and essentially provided “glowing feedback” about herself. She also allegedly used a photo of Kate Upton as the photo on her LinkedIn profile.  

Theriault started the position in August, but only stuck around for over a month before she was fired. In her brief tenure, she earned about $22,500, and even managed to employ her brother who was paid $15,760 for three weeks worth of contract work for a job that he wasn’t qualified for. 

Theriault’s job grew suspicious when her mental health started to deteriorate shortly after she was hired. Her lawyer Stephen Apps tried to impress upon Judge Michael Boylan that he should consider her mental health when delivering his sentence. “You fraudulently obtained employment for which you were paid a large salary and in the course of which you may have had access to sensitive material,” Judge Boylan said. 

Theriault was sentenced to 25 months in prison, with a minimum of a year behind bars.