Tuesday, 10 September 2013

Report: Mom Arrested in Cancer Scam Couldn't Prove Claim to Charity

MESQUITE, NV - Mesquite Police detectives arrested 36-year-old Shawnanna Starr Flores for lying and representing her 7-year-old son having a malignant liver cancer, known as Hepatoblastoma.
Detectives completed a lengthy investigation with the assistance of Clark County Child Protective Services in the arrest of Flores.

Several community benefits were held including a car wash on August 24 that raised $404. A fund at Wells Fargo Bank was also established. Investigators also added that money jars were placed in businesses around Mesquite.
In all, police say she was able to get $550 from various fundraising efforts, including a donation website.
A fundraiser meal was planned for Saturday, but Flores was arrested before the fundraiser could happen.
According to the arrest report released Monday, suspicions were raised when she did not turn in paperwork proving her son's condition to a charity that was working on a fundraiser for her son and five other families.
The investigation also found that two days before she was arrested Flores had taken her son to a clinic in St. George, Utah. She told doctors there that he had been suffering severe abdominal pain and vomiting since May; however, the doctors found that all lab reports and scans were normal.
When officers questioned her, police say Flores was unable to confirm that her 7-year-old son was actually diagnosed with cancer. She gave them documents from a California clinic, that police say were copied almost exactly from the center's website, only the age of the patient had been changed to reflect her son's age.
Flores was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses, felony fraud, theft, and felony child abuse. She is set to be in court Wednesday.
Child Protective Services is continuing their own investigation into the fraudulent scam involving the child.

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