She exploited her victims' sympathy by claiming she had cancer and her mother had died. Later that year, Theranos announced it was closing its lab and laying off about 340 employees, or more than 40 percent of its work force. A. conwoman who faked her ovarian cancer journey to swindle more than 45,000 to spend on holidays and a box at White Hart Lane has been jailed. A 31-year-old woman who created a fake life of having a child with terminal cancer and earning a Purple Heart for injuries she sustained in combat was sentenced to two years in prison on Sept. 7 in Franklin County Superior Court. "To the best of her knowledge, she does not believe Jessica Smith has been diagnosed with cancer of any form," Uwchlan Township Det. She is barred from serving as an officer or director of any public company for 10 years. She claimed she only had a year or two to live. In October 2015, Ms. Holmes, in her signature turtleneck, appeared on the cover of Inc. magazine, next to the headline The Next Steve Jobs.. Police said in a news release that she was arrested on Jan. 23 and is facing a charge of theft by means of deception after stealing money from donors.. Russo also spoke about her "cancer journey . Chester County District Attorney's Office, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Robert told the detective that the handwriting and signature on the paperwork were actually his wife's, according to the complaint. said that Theranos and Ms. Holmes had agreed to a settlement, with Ms. Holmes agreeing to pay a $500,000 penalty. Though Chavez had been a patient of one of the doctors, the other had never heard of her, officials said. [1][2] When Kirilow's fraud was made public, her story was republished around the world. She is extremely remorseful and is determined to do everything possible both to make restitution and to earn the forgiveness of the people she has hurt.. Jessica Krecskay, 25, was indicted for theft by deception exceeding $10,000 for allegedly raising money under false pretenses aka claiming she was sick when in reality she was not. Example video title will go here for this video, Good Morning Quad Cities @ 9 a.m. Saturday. A "cruel" woman, pretending to have cancer, defrauded seven neighbours and her landlady out of nearly 15,000. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? On Tuesday, Chavez, 38, was sentenced to an additional two years in prison for the get-out-of-jail cancer scheme. 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Image via Getty. Ashley Anne Kirilow (born 1987) is a Canadian who raised money to aid cancer sufferers, while pretending herself to be a cancer sufferer. We've received your submission. The latest group of victims were elderly residents who live near her home in Marwell Close, off Thurcaston Road, in Leicester. Friends, family and even members of her church donated to the cause, money all deposited into her personal bank account. The doctors notes urged a San Diego federal judge to keep his patient out of prison. Judge Weekes said that he had "very significantly reduced the sentence" to limit the amount of time that her son would be without his mother. The money was instead spent on gambling and trips to Barcelona and Rome, the court heard. The company faces a separate federal criminal inquiry, in which no charges have been filed yet. On the site, there was once a donate now button for generous people to fund her treatments, making donations in the name of supporting her. [51], Kirilow mentioned in the context of similar frauds, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Ashley Kirilow vilified for alleged cancer charity scam", "Are Cancer Fraudsters Desperate or Psychopathic? A former Theranos employee, Mr. Shultz is described as cooperating with federal investigators on matters that pitted him against his grandfather, a key adviser to Ms. Holmes. Tom Wilkinson. POLK COUNTY, Ga - A Polk County woman was arrested after police said she faked cancer to scam thousands of dollars out of friends and strangers. In 2016, federal regulators barred Ms. Holmes from owning and operating a medical laboratory for two years, sanctions that Theranos said it would appeal. All rights reserved. Jessica Smith's attorney, Michael D. DiCindio, declined to provide a comment to ABC News. Judge Mark Weekes told Elkabbas she had carried out a "lengthy, involved and sophisticated deception" of hundreds of people in order to "obtain large sums of cash to sustain your very significant gambling habit". Joann Wood was sentenced to three years in prison at Leicester Crown Court on . "Bills and care for her children don't stop," the campaign, which raised $8,553 of its $15,000 goal and has since been removed by Facebook, stated. Legal Statement. Russo was released just four hours after being booked into the Scott County Jail on Monday. She had supposedly created the charity to fund cancer research. Riley had no cancer-related expenses, and donors funds were simply deposited into Rileys personal bank account.. Arguably she was one of those people.. 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Chester County resident Jessica Ann Smith, 31, allegedly created two fundraisers in June -- one on GoFundMe and the other on Facebook -- seeking donations to assist with medical bills and other related costs for a diagnosis of colon cancer, according to a criminal complaint filed last week. Authorities were notified of the fundraisers after her husband, Robert Smith, and an acquaintance reported the campaigns to the Uwchlan Township Police Department on June 19. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, claiming in 2012 that she needed donations for her medical expenses, 50 Cents Sire Spirits blames SI couple for embezzlement plot, Bidens laughable, late-to-the-game crackdown on massive COVID fraud, Biden begs Congress for $1.6B more to fight $100B in COVID fraud, Thieves are swiping left and right to steal all around NYC. This is Silicon Valley hubris in force, said Lakshman Ramamurthy, a former official with the Food and Drug Administration and currently the global regulatory lead at Foundation Medicine. "You tugged at their heart string," he said. She claimed a costly "breakthrough drug" could improve her chances, and included an image of her lying in a hospital bed. [22] On July 31, Robert Smith went to the police station to file a report alleging fraud by his wife, accusing her of obtaining funds from the GoFundMe and Facebook campaigns and depositing them into her bank account. Iowa. NORTH MIAMI, Fla. - A man and a woman recently used fake identifications and a fraudulent power of attorney as part of their effort to steal a real estate property in Miami-Dade County from a . Read about our approach to external linking. She pleaded guilty two weeks later to theft under $5,000. Madison "Maddie" Russo, 19, has been charged with theft over the alleged scam, for which she raked in more than $37,000 from hundreds of . A 24-year-old Burlington woman who made national headlines for faking cancer is back behind bars. I try not to think of that time, when I do I feel sick to the stomach, Booker said, according to kentonline.com.I am angry at myself for being so nave. Oliver Kirk, defending, said the bereavement had left her with responsibility to care for both her teenage son and 77-year-old father. VideoRussian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Elkabbas's mother died of cancer on 19 December, the court. Woman Who Faked Terminal Cancer to Collect $260,000 in Donations Gets 25 Months in Prison. A woman who scammed tens of thousands of dollars from her family and friends over a fake cancer diagnosis and other deception has been jailed for four years. Nicole Elkabbas set up a GoFundMe page claiming she had ovarian cancer but instead splurged the cash on restaurants and gambling, Canterbury Crown Court was previously told. But the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation said in a news release that it was "inadvertently named. It was able to raise $100 million in debt last December, according to Crunchbase. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that in June 2015 Toni Standen, 29, from Widnes in Cheshire, told two of her friends, Ashlea Rowson and Jennifer Douglas . Elkabbas's lies also had a negative impact on genuine fundraisers, by promoting "scepticism and even cynicism in an area that can ill-afford it," the judge said. She. [35] An Iowa woman who claimed to have been diagnosed with cancer documenting her medical journey on TikTok and raising thousands on GoFundMe was actually faking the whole thing, according to police. [9], Kirilow was charged with several counts of fraud with one count of fraud of over $5000. Jennifer Flynn Cataldo, 37, of . A woman who claimed to have terminal cancer and let her friends raise thousands of pounds for her to have a dream wedding has been jailed. May 04, 2022. Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? A former fashion consultant broke into tears as she was jailed Wednesday for swindling more than $70,000 from well-wishers by claiming she needed to pay for cancer treatment but using the money instead on her lavish lifestyle, according to a report. Michelle Lynn Stultz, 46, has been charged with four counts of felony obtaining property by false pretenses after lying about "financial hardships due to medical treatments," according to the Iredell County Sheriff's Office. Since her case became public Kirilow's fraud has been cited as a cautionary example of the dangers posed by online fund-raising campaigns. That document allegedly showed a "balance due" of more than $81,000 according to the complaint. U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia gave her a three-month reprieve to report to prison. But unlike another highly scrutinized testing company, 23andMe, which faced a moratorium by the Food and Drug Administration on its genetic tests in 2013 but was recently allowed to begin offering certain tests directly to consumers, Theranos is a contrasting tale, Mr. Ramamurthy said.