A woman from Rhode Island is facing charges that she lied about being a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who was battling lung cancer.
Sarah Jane Cavanaugh, 31, is accused of using forged or counterfeited military discharge certificates — among other charges — to bilk hundreds of thousands of dollars of veterans benefits and charitable contributions, The Associated Press reported.
Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said Cavanaugh worked at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Providence, where she was able to get the records of a Marine who uses the VA to falsify military discharge documents. Cunha alleged Cavanaugh used her work email to buy a Purple Heart and Bronze Star that she displayed on a Marine uniform. She claimed she served from 2009 to 2016.
The U.S. Attorney said Cavanaugh was able to get financial assistance using that information. She was able to collect $207,000 from the Wounded Warrior program to pay for groceries and physical therapy. She collected an additional $18,500 in assistance from “Code of Support” to pay her mortgage, repair her furnace, buy a gym membership and pay other bills. She also got another $4,700 from a fundraising website, Cunha alleged.
CretiVets, an art therapy program, gave her $16,000, according to court documents.
The investigation began after a tip from HunterSeven, an organization that assists veterans who have cancer. They had issued her a $3,000 check but canceled it when another female Marine told them that she would have known Cavanaugh if she had served and if Cavanaugh had earned the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for valor, the AP reported.
Chelsey Simoni, the organization’s executive director, said, “I was in pain for her. I listened to her, everything a nurse should do. She not only abused that, she took my compassion and lied. Meanwhile we could have put our services elsewhere. That’s what bothers me,” the AP reported.
Cunha said there is no record of Cavanaugh’s military service.
She appeared in U.S. District Court in Providence and was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond, the AP reported.
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