News / Local
Woman fakes brain injury in a bid to steal half a million USD in funds from Boston Marathon bombing victims
20 Jul 2013 at 10:10hrs | Views
Audrea Gause, 26, of Troy, N.Y., is led into court in Troy, N.Y. on Friday, July 19, 2013 to be arraigned for defrauding the One Fund Boston of $480,000.
A 26-year-old New Yorker has been accused of stealing nearly half a million dollars from a fund meant for victims of the Boston Marathon terror attack.
Police say Audrea Gause (26) collected money from One Fund Boston after claiming she'd been hurt at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. The woman allegedly provided fake documents that showed she'd been admitted to a Boston hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
"We allege that this defendant defrauded The One Fund Boston of $480,000," Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement. "By doing this, she was stealing money from the real victims of the Marathon bombing, and from the people who gave so generously to help them."
On June 3, Gause submitted notarized documents claiming that she'd been hospitalized at the Boston Medical Center for two days, then transferred to the Albany Medical Center for ten days. On several pages of doctored medical records, the woman claimed that she'd suffered long-term memory loss, impaired speech, and loss of motor function. She said that she would need future surgery.
Her claim was approved by One Fund and paid by the end of June.
In the last week, the attorney general received a tip that Gause's claim may have been false. Further investigation revealed that Gause hadn't checked into Boston Medical Center or Albany Medical Center on the dates that she claimed. The attorney general doesn't believe Gause had even been inside the city of Boston during the attack.
Gause was arrested Friday afternoon on a fugitive warrant near her home in Troy, N.Y. She's been charged with larceny over $250.
There are indications that "one or two other individuals" may have been involved in the scam, the attorney general said.
"It is terrible to think that people would compound the Marathon tragedy by stealing money from survivors," Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in the attorney general's statement.
In total, One Fund distributed $60,952,000 to 232 claimants at the end of June. Coakley's office is currently reviewing all of these claims.
nvestigators are making every effort to secure the money given to Gause, the attorney general said. She believes the money will be returned and distributed to the real victims.
Another alleged scammer was arrested earlier this month. 22-year-old Branden Mattier tried to get away with more than $2 million, but was caught before the funds could be released.
Police say Audrea Gause (26) collected money from One Fund Boston after claiming she'd been hurt at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. The woman allegedly provided fake documents that showed she'd been admitted to a Boston hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
"We allege that this defendant defrauded The One Fund Boston of $480,000," Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement. "By doing this, she was stealing money from the real victims of the Marathon bombing, and from the people who gave so generously to help them."
On June 3, Gause submitted notarized documents claiming that she'd been hospitalized at the Boston Medical Center for two days, then transferred to the Albany Medical Center for ten days. On several pages of doctored medical records, the woman claimed that she'd suffered long-term memory loss, impaired speech, and loss of motor function. She said that she would need future surgery.
Her claim was approved by One Fund and paid by the end of June.
In the last week, the attorney general received a tip that Gause's claim may have been false. Further investigation revealed that Gause hadn't checked into Boston Medical Center or Albany Medical Center on the dates that she claimed. The attorney general doesn't believe Gause had even been inside the city of Boston during the attack.
Gause was arrested Friday afternoon on a fugitive warrant near her home in Troy, N.Y. She's been charged with larceny over $250.
There are indications that "one or two other individuals" may have been involved in the scam, the attorney general said.
"It is terrible to think that people would compound the Marathon tragedy by stealing money from survivors," Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in the attorney general's statement.
In total, One Fund distributed $60,952,000 to 232 claimants at the end of June. Coakley's office is currently reviewing all of these claims.
nvestigators are making every effort to secure the money given to Gause, the attorney general said. She believes the money will be returned and distributed to the real victims.
Another alleged scammer was arrested earlier this month. 22-year-old Branden Mattier tried to get away with more than $2 million, but was caught before the funds could be released.
Source - NYDN
