Usually when you do something like that on your CV, it's a big deal partly because they wonder what you did with the other 1 year 8 months. For example, were you in prison? As I recall, Lee was working somewhere else (and not in prison), so he wasn't lying to cover up a more serious issue.
It's true he didn't claim a qualification he didn't have. We get a glimpse of his CV with it clearly stating he failed the course. (The same is true of Stuart. We see on his CV that he is being very clear about what his company is licensed to do.)