Bazinga! I guess if you’re going to rip people off, you might as well rip them off all the way. That is exactly what this Ohio woman is accused of.
The Mansfield News Journal reports:
A Mansfield woman says she is innocent of federal charges alleging she set up a GoFundMe page claiming to be a highly decorated Marine veteran needing money for breast cancer treatments, despite the fact she was never sick and never served in the military.
Joyell “J.D.” Riley, 41, of Mansfield, was indicted Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division on federal wire fraud charges.
The wire fraud charge is an interesting one, as prosecutors allege people from Michigan, Texas, and California sent money to Riley through her GoFundMe page. Without specific laws against fraudulent crowdfunding on the books in states around the country, prosecutors have to go with what they can stick on accused fraudsters; which, in this case, was wire fraud.
Riley is the founder of Mission Possible, a non-profit dedicated to feeding homeless veterans. I mean, that’s noble and all but doesn’t mean she’s incapable of a little GoFundMe fuckery.
She says the claims against her are “inaccurate.” This is a developing story and we’ll update when we’ve got more to pass along.
