14 DAY TRIAL // Towards the end of last week, authorities in Citrus County in Florida, US, arrested a woman believed to have knowingly and purposely lied about having cancer to trick people, friends and family included, into giving her money.
The woman's plan, masterfully designed and executed, is said to have landed her at least $4,500 (€4,300) in donations made via a fundraising page dubbed Kelly's Hope.
For the time being, it's unclear how much money the 36-year-old got from other sources. Since she did a pretty good job faking breast cancer, it's safe to assume that we're talking about a whole lot of cash.
Not even her close family had any idea she wasn't sick
In 2013, Kelly Johanneson disappeared for a whole month. During this time, she never made any contact with her friends and family, not even to let them know about her whereabouts. When she returned, she told them that, while away, she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
To make sure that her announcement would make an impression, she went as far as to say that she was suffering from stage IV breast cancer, meaning that the disease had spread to other areas of the body.
Although stage IV breast cancer patients can still respond to treatment, the majority die a few years after diagnosis. Yup, this very imaginative lady chose one of the absolute worst diseases in the books and lied about having been diagnosed with it.
Kelly Johanneson went on to tell her family, friends and neighbors that she was being treated at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and that she needed help paying for the chemo and medical consults.
Touched by her story, her close ones dug deep in their pockets and gave her whatever money they could spare. Even strangers donated via the fundraising page Kelly's Hope that the woman's family started in a desperate attempt to keep her alive.
To keep up with the lie, Kelly Johanneson shaved her head and showed up at fundraisers organized for her benefit wearing a bandana. Not at all remorseful, she thanked all those who gave her money.
“Thank you to everyone that has given me their love, prayers and support this very difficult time of my life. On behalf of my two beautiful children and all of my family, you have by deepest appreciation and love,” she wrote on Kelly's Hope at one point.
The woman was eventually exposed as a fraud
BuzzFeed tells us that, in last year's September, somebody tipped off authorities about how Kelly Johanneson was lying about having cancer to trick people into giving her money. An investigation was launched, and soon enough, the woman was exposed as a fraud.
Thus, it looks like the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa has no records of a stave IV breast cancer patient by the name of Kelly Johanneson. Plenty of well-wishers who visited the woman's fundraising site, on the other hand, are all too familiar with her.
The woman, arrested last Friday, stands accused of fraud. She is being held without bond and will soon have to answer for her actions in front of a court of law. Presently, authorities are doing their best to figure out exactly how much money the 36-year-old got from people while pretending to have cancer.
