Fraud

Diagnoses

Passions

Vocation

Notable

Traits

American news figure, a resident of South Boston and an administrative assistant at Fidelity Investments, who made fraudulent claims she had ovarian cancer in 1998 and received about $50,000 in donations for medical treatment. She told her family and friends that she had to seek out-of-state treatments that her insurance would not cover. She had her head shaved to support her claim of having gone through chemotherapy. When news of her plight spread, her people organized a June 1999 fundraiser that netted more than $40,000, mostly in cash donations, to pay her medical expenses. The district attorney’s office investigated an anonymous tip and found that she did not have ovarian cancer and that she spent the donated money on items such as a 1999 Nissan Altima, dining, travel, entertainment and a liposuction. One fund-raiser in June 1999 raised about $50,000. A 5K Walk/Run was scheduled for October 24, 1999. In September 1999, the district attorney’s office announced that it was investigating the woman on suspicion of fraud. On October 31, 2000, she was sentenced to two years of probation and 300 hours of community service. She was also ordered to pay restitution and prohibited from profit from her larceny, including a ban against any magazine, book or movie contracts for her story. Her attorney said that her lie started as a last-ditch effort to save a relationships that was ending, in an effort to win sympathy from her boyfriend. The judge took into account the fact that she had no prior record and has been hospitalized for depression in the past, showing suicidal tendencies. She has already suffered some of the consequences of her actions, having lost her job, alienated her friends, and becoming a pariah in South Boston.