A Current Affair
A mum who pretended she had cancer and scammed her community out of $45,000 has admitted she made it up.
Melissa Quinn, 35, a former NSW cricket development officer, claimed she had inoperable tumours in her brain and leg in 2014 and that she only had two years to live.
Her local community rallied around her, raising money for her to fly to the US for treatment she claimed could save her life.
When Quinn travelled to the US, leaving her partner and kids behind, she even posted on Facebook about the treatment.
“Really happy with the doctors here. Couldn’t have got better news,’ she wrote.
Then in January 2016, Quinn told then employer Cricket NSW she had been diagnosed with cancer for a second time. She claimed she had chronic myeloid leukaemia.
She also told them she was having an operation to remove tumours from her leg, and was granted unlimited sick leave.
She even turned up to work with a bandage around her leg and staff had happily fundraised for her again.
But her elaborate lie unraveled when a colleague noticed a doctor’s certificate she had submitted came from a Gmail account.
The colleague became suspicious and contacted the doctor to confirm the authenticity. He confirmed he had no written the email, so the matter was handed over to police.
Quinn was arrested and charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, making false document to obtain financial advantage, and using the false document for financial advantage.
Then in April this year, Quinn pleaded guilty to raising $45,000 in donations. She was granted conditional bail.
Quinn is due to be sentenced in June.
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