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星期一, 9月 30, 2013

NEW YORK WOMAN INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY DEFRAUDING ONE FUND BOSTON OF $480,000


NEW YORK WOMAN INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY DEFRAUDING ONE FUND BOSTON OF $480,000
Woman Claimed to Have Traumatic Brain Injury Due to Boston Marathon Bombing

            BOSTON – A New York woman has been indicted in connection with collecting a fraudulent $480,000 claim from The One Fund Boston, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today. The woman claimed she suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Audrea Gause, 26, of Troy, N.Y., was indicted today by a Suffolk County Grand Jury on the charges of Larceny over $250 and Gross Fraud.

“We allege that this defendant fraudulently claimed she sustained a critical injury at the site of the marathon tragedy and defrauded The One Fund Boston of $480,000,” AG Coakley said. “This defendant allegedly attempted to steal from the real victims of the Marathon bombing, and we are pleased that we were able to recover this money for The One Fund Boston.”

Gause was arrested on July 19 by State Police assigned to the Massachusetts AG’s Office on a fugitive warrant in Troy, N.Y. She was transported back to Massachusetts and arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on August 2. She is currently being held on $200,000 cash bail.

            The AG’s investigation revealed that on June 3, One Fund officials received a detailed and notarized claim from Gause, which included several pages of purported medical records, indicating that she had been hospitalized at the Boston Medical Center for two days, and thereafter at the Albany Medical Center for ten days. The claim allegedly said that Gause sustained a brain injury from the Boston Marathon bombing and experienced long-term memory loss, impaired speech, and loss of some motor function that would require future surgery.

            Based on the information contained in the claim and the attached purported medical records, Gause’s claim was approved for payment. At the end of June, The One Fund Administrator sent Gause a letter confirming her claim had been approved and subsequently paid that claim.

Authorities allege that Gause gave $377,500 of the money she fraudulently obtained from The One Fund to a New York construction company as a down payment on a brand new home. Investigation also revealed that Gause signed up for a cruise, named the “Heroes Cruise,” which was being offered free of charge to victims of the Boston Marathon bombing by a Boston-based travel company.

            After receiving information that Gause may not have been in Boston during the Marathon Bombing in April, the AG’s office commenced an immediate investigation. That investigation determined that Gause was not a patient at Boston Medical Center on the day of the bombing as claimed. Further investigation also determined that she was not a patient at Albany Medical Center at the times allegedly entered on her notarized claim form.

            Investigators were able to secure the $480,000 Gause allegedly stole for return to The One Fund Boston.

Gause was arrested in Troy on July 19 on a Massachusetts fugitive warrant. She waived extradition and she was transported back to Massachusetts on August 1 by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office. On August 2, Gause was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court and held on $200,000 cash bail. She was indicted today by a Suffolk County Grand Jury. She is due to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on October 7.

AG Coakley’s Office has charged two other individuals with attempted fraud of The One Fund Boston. In August, twobrothers from Boston were charged in connection with an attempt to defraud The One Fund Boston of $2 million by submitting a false claim on behalf of their dead aunt.

            The AG’s Office encourages anyone who may have information about other potential fraud to contact State Police assigned to the AG’s Office at 617-963-2223.

This matter is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Gina Masotta of the AG’s Public Integrity Division, investigators Sallyann Nelligan and Jaclyn Morrill, Victim Advocate Lisa Solecki and State Police assigned to the AG’s Office. The Albany Police Department, the Troy Police Department, and the New York Attorney General’s Office made significant contributions to the investigation. The One Fund Boston also cooperated throughout the investigation.

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