Vanessa O'Rourke faces federal wire fraud charges after allegedly raising funds by claiming she had terminal brain cancer.
The FBI says O'Rourke, from Harleysville, Pennsylvania, began telling family and friends in October 2015 that she needed money for experimental treatment in Australia for glioblastoma. She continued the claims through July 2016 and made at least two trips to the country during that period.
Haleigh Knight from Henderson, Nevada, admitted to faking a pancreatic cancer diagnosis to defraud people out of more than $20,000. She pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge for scams running from June 2023 to April 2024. Knight faces sentencing on June 24.
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A Florida woman has been charged after allegedly posing as a domestic violence victim to defraud a disabled man of more than $2,000 through Facebook Dating. Police say Gianna Abel-Venezia admitted the scheme but claimed she did not realize it was illegal.
An Illinois woman has been charged with hiding the death of her elderly neighbor for over three years after allegedly finding the body and continuing to access the victim's financial accounts.
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Kaitlyn Rose Laura, a 31-year-old Texas woman, faces charges of serious bodily injury to a child and aggravated assault after allegedly subjecting her toddler son to unnecessary feeding tubes and other treatments. Authorities say she fabricated her son's medical history over at least a year. The child improved markedly after separation from his mother.