A British woman pretended to have cancer and tricked her well-wishers into giving her £45,000 (about Rs 43 lakh) for her supposed treatment which she later spent on vacations. When the fraud came to light, the woman was forced to pay back only £5 (Rs 479) apart from being sentenced to over two years in prison.
According to reports, 44-year-old single mother Nicole Elkabbas took only days to collect the amount via fundraising platforms after making up the story that she needed to pay for private ovarian cancer treatment in Spain. While in reality, she had received an all-clear from doctors.
Elkabbas then spent the Rs 43 lakh on vacations, football match tickets, gaming, and dining out. The incident came to light when her consultant oncologist discovered her fundraising page asking for donations--apparently set up by her mother Delores--days after examining Elkabbas.
Even her GoFundMe page featured a frail photo taken after she underwent a gall bladder surgery months ago, reported Daily Mail.
Read more: UK woman claimed she faked illness to claim benefits of over Rs 5.7 crore
The authorities were alerted and when officers got in touch with the clinic where Elkabbas claimed to be staying, they clinic said they had never heard of her, while the doctor treating her did not exist according to Spanish media.
Elkabbas later faced a trial where the judge said her ploy was "pure wild fantasy and a deliberate deceit" which fooled almost 700 donors.
"You produced detailed and at times graphic accounts of the treatment you were receiving with a view to keeping those you had snared in your web of lies paying you money," Daily Mail quoted judge Mark Weekes as saying.
She was then sentenced to two years and nine months in prison and since she lacks the resources or capacity to compensate her nearly 700 victims, the court ordered her to pay back just £5.
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