A woman living in New York has been accused of stealing nearly half a million dollars from One Fund Boston, a fund meant to help victims of the Boston Marathon attack.The woman allegedly submitted extensive documentation showing that she had been admitted to a Boston hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
The notarized documents reportedly demonstrated that the woman had been admitted to the Boston Medical Center for two days, and then transferred to the Albany Medical Center for an additional ten days. The documents included medical records stating that the woman suffered from long-term memory loss, impaired speech, and loss of motor function. She also reportedly claimed that she would require future surgery.
Her claim for $480,000 was approved and paid by One Fun at the end of June. The attorney general has since received a tip that the claim may have been fraudulent. Further investigation revealed that the woman did not check in to either of the hospitals she claimed to have on the dates she claimed. Furthermore, the Attorney General does not believe that the woman was in Boston at the time of the attack.
The woman was arrested last week near her home in New York on a fugitive warrant, and has since been charged with larceny over $250.
Investigators believe that one or two additional individuals may be involved in the alleged scam.
The crime this woman was charged with, larceny, is one of the most common crimes committed. It involves the stealing or taking of another person’s property, with the intent to deprive him or her of its possession permanently.
Larceny over $250, otherwise known as Grand Larceny, is defined under Massachusetts as as follows:
any individual who steals, or with intent to defraud obtains by a false pretense, or unlawfully and with intent to steal or embezzle, converts, or secretes with intent to convert the property of another shall be guilty of larceny if that property exceeds $250 or if that property is a firearm.
It is punishable by a maximum state prison sentence of 5 years, or a fine of $25,000 and 2.5 years jail time. The extent of your sentence depends highly upon your strategy. Hiring a skilled defense attorney will provide your best chance at having your charges potentially reduced, or receiving a lessened sentence.
If you’ve been accused of larceny by stealing, hire a skilled defense attorney with specialized knowledge in the field of theft crimes who will battle for you at trial to win your case. Attorney Murphy may be also able to have the charges dismissed, or reduced down to lesser charges in order to avoid a trial. Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. Murphy immediately for a free assessment of your case by calling 617-367-0450 or by completing our online contact form.
More Blog Posts:
What You Need to Know About Massachusetts Motor Vehicle License Suspensions, Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog, published July 20, 2013
Alleged Chinatown Crime Boss Sentenced on Drug and Other Charges, Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog, published July 17, 2013