PHOENIX — A mother is facing charges after investigators said she claimed her daughter had cancer to collect donations, which she then used to pay bills and buy luxury items.
Investigators were alerted to the family by Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which reported Monique Coria and her husband for bringing their 1-year-old child in for “unnecessary medical procedures” and claiming she had brain cancer, KTVK reported.
Hospital staff told detectives that Coria had started a GoFundMe campaign featuring photos and videos of her daughter in the emergency room, and was collecting money on Cash App, Venmo and Linktree as well, The Arizona Republic reported. Hospital officials estimated Coria raised $13,000 on the GoFundMe page, on which she lied about her daughter having brain cancer and needing money for treatment.
When police and officers with the Department of Child Safety interviewed Coria on Oct. 13, she told them that her daughter had seizures and takes medication for them, but denied that her daughter had cancer, KTVK reported. Coria told police that a friend had started the GoFundMe campaign.
In court documents obtained by KTVK, officers said that Coria admitted to officers that she lied about her daughter’s diagnosis on TikTok, saying that she did it because “she was in a bad place” and that the family need money for rent and gas.
Coria told officers that they raised approximately $11,000 and spent $4,000 on rent and gas. She allegedly admitted that she knew her daughter did not have brain cancer and that lying about the condition of her daughter for donations was fraudulent, The Arizona Republic reported. Coria told detectives that she closed the GoFundMe campaign and withdrew the remaining money from the bank account and gave it to her godmother for safekeeping.
When detectives interviewed Coria’s husband, he told officers that Coria told him their daughter had a medical condition, KTVK reported. He said that he had not seen any paperwork confirming the diagnosis but had believed his wife. He told officers the two of them spent the money they raised on rent, clothes, food, a car, toys, a television and medication, according to court paperwork.
Coria admitted to detectives that she had used the money to buy additional luxury items, including a Gucci wallet and a Dyson Airwrap hair styler, because the donations had already covered the family’s other expenses, The Arizona Republic reported.
Coria was charged with fraudulent schemes.
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