Mother Allegedly Scammed Community, Friends Out of $25,000 by Telling Them Son Was Terminally Ill
An Arapahoe County mother in Colorado is accused of using her son in a scam that netted her $25,000 in donations. She has been charged with theft and criminal impersonation to gain benefit, which are felony charges, but was released from jail after paying $10,000 in bond.
Sandy Thi Nguyen is alleged to have told family members and friends that her son, 6, was sick with leukemia and had a terminal prognosis. Investigators noted that Nguyen had posted photos of the boy with and without hair, adding to the belief that he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
The investigation concluded that Nguyen "did convince her son, family and community that her 6-year-old had cancer and was receiving cancer treatment since approximately September 2012. We don't have any reason to believe that anyone other than her knew the truth," Sheriff's Captain Larry Etheridge told The Denver Channel. "The little boy believed he had cancer. The rest of the family believed he had cancer."
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The boy's school held several fundraisers to pay for his treatment, but Nguyen is believed to have used part of the money to take the family to Disneyland.
She "admitted that her son does not have cancer and stated that some of the money recovered from the residence was from donations [she] received," the sheriff's office added. They have recovered approximately $23,000 in cash. The rest of the money was either spent or in an account especially for the boy.
Members of the community are astonished at the lengths that Nguyen went to in order to convince them of her son's illness. One of those is Rolling Hills Elementary School Principal Darla Thompson, who sent a letter to parents informing them of the scam.
"We are deeply troubled by these allegations and saddened to learn that an adult may have taken advantage of an innocent child and our school community," Thompson wrote. "It is important for our community to continue to show support and compassion for this child, who is also a victim in this case."
