Recent reports share that a university dropout faked a degree from a prestigious university to con the Walt Disney Company, among others, into hiring her.

The Walt Disney Company is one of the most prestigious names in the world to be associated with. The company, which is celebrating its centennial this year, is known to have been a trendsetter in the world of entertainment, be it with respect to theme parks, movies, or otherwise.

Working at Disney is no small feat, and one individual recently crossed many lines in order to open doors to the esteemed company for herself.

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Nanyang Technological University Dropout Fakes Certificate to Get Hired at Disney

As reported by The Straits Times, Fonseka Wannerichega Hema Ranjini (44) forged a bachelor’s degree in engineering certificate to cheat at least five companies into hiring her between 2005 and 2021. On November 23, 2023, Ranjini was convicted of two counts of cheating and a count of committing forgery.

The news outlet reported that Ranjini used the fake certificate to get hired by companies like The Walt Disney Company, Marshall Cavendish, and Scholastic Education International. Her jobs also resulted in her earning a monthly salary between $4,200 and $6,800.

NTU dropout used fake certificate to get hired at Walt Disney, Marshall Cavendish https://t.co/Txu3ggj69O

— The Straits Times (@straits_times) November 23, 2023

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Why did Fonseka Wannerichega Hema Ranjini drop out?

According to the article, Ranjini enrolled at NTU to study engineering in 1998 “but dropped out in August 2004 as she struggled to pass various modules and pay the tuition fees.” Her highest attained educational qualifications are the GCE A levels.

She then created a fake certificate using a template she found online to fake a bachelor’s degree in 2005. The fake degree shows that she graduated from NTU in June 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering with third-class honors.

Ranjini applied and got hired at some big-name companies like Marshall Cavendish in August 2005 and Scholastic Education International in July 2015. But that was where her luck began to fade. The company fired her in February 2017 due to unsatisfactory work performance.

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2021 saw the last time the fake certificate would work for Ranjini. She applied to the entertainment and media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company in Southeast Asia. She was hired to the publishing department as a learning editor from June to December of that year.

It was finally at Disney that the certificate was sent off to be validated by a third-party vendor, that it came to light that the certificate was a fake. NTU also then confirmed that it did not award Ranjini a degree.

While Ranjini tried explaining away the certificate, the university did not take kindly to it and she claimed they “issued a certificate at her request to prove she was enrolled there for a period of time.”

However, NTU had reached its limit, and an NTU employee lodged a formal police complaint against Ranjini. Ranjini could face up to three years of jail time and a fine for cheating, and for committing forgery, she can be jailed for up to seven years and face a fine as well.