A woman who faked her cancer diagnosis and raised hundreds of thousands of rands via her fund-me social media pages, has been ordered to return the funds to her donors.
US woman, Madison Russo, set up donor pages under the pretence of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, leukaemia, and a massive tumour around her spine.
Sky News reported that 20-year-old Russo documented her cancer "struggle" tugging at the hearts of more than 400 people who donated to her cause.
The court handed Russo a 10-year prison sentence, suspended for three years. She has also been ordered to pay back the money and pay a fine.
In handing down the sentence, the judge said Russo deceived her family, friends, and the community, as well as other cancer victims, strangers, and charities who were moved by her story to help her, Sky News reported.
The seams of Russo's carefully woven lie started to unravel when medical experts started poking holes in her story.
This led the police to subpoena her medical records, which showed no signs of a cancer diagnosis, and Russo pleaded guilty to first-degree theft.
@celec242 #VozDosCriadores #screammovie #madisonrusso pleaded guilty to cheating well wishers and charities out of thousands of dollars from her fake cancer diagnosis #pancreaticcancersurvivor #diagnosis ♬ original sound - Celec242
Russo said she faked her cancer "battle" to get her family's attention.
According to Sky News, Russo said a lot of people speculated as to why she concocted the story and how someone who looked like they had everything together could have such a mess.
"I didn't do this for money or greed. I didn't do it for attention. I did this as an attempt to get my family back together," she told Sky News.
She fully acknowledged her wrongdoing and apologised during court proceedings.
IOL