Woman charged for conning relatives out of $27,000 for cancer treatment though she wasn't sick

A woman allegedly lied to her family about having bowel cancer to get money from them. Now, she faces three counts of fraud.

48-year-old Ellen Danagher of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England, broke the news to her family that she was diagnosed with the disease in 2009. According to the reports, four of her relatives have died from the disease.

While asking help from her siblings, she claimed that because she suffered from Lupus 10 years prior, she was not allowed to have the typical NHS treatment and was tasked to come up between £160,000 and £180,000 for the expenses.

Danagher asked help from her family to collect £21,000 to add to the crowdfunding.

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Danagher claimed that she was receiving treatment from a private pharmaceutical company called Teagra Pharmaceuticals that was allegedly based in Harley Street, London.

Police tracked down the company and found no information about it. In fact, there wasn’t even a building in the address Danagher gave. When she was asked to show paperwork that could prove the validity of the company, she was unable to provide one.

Danagher’s sister, Kathleen Young, and her brothers, Patrick and John Mullins, gave £7,000 each to help with her medical expenses.

When they learned that she was lying, the siblings had her arrested and charged with three counts of fraud. Until now, she denies the charges pressed against her.

Speaking at the court, Young said, “We just thought we had to get the money for her, and we did. We had no reason not to believe her. She's our sister and we loved her.”

Young added that she even gave her sister more money, explaining, “I used to give her £150 per month for organic food to help her. I did that for a number of years.”

In addition, Danagher approached her again and asked for more money. Young said she and her husband loaned money amounting to about £5,000.

Young admitted that her sister tried to pay her back, but she still had a remaining balance of more or less £12,000 by 2016. It was during that year that she was also diagnosed with bowel cancer.

When the siblings started doubting Danagher, they hired a private detective to investigate Danagher’s claims.

When they confirmed that she was not telling the truth, they immediately contacted the police.

As of now, the case continues. The public will have to wait for the final decision as everything unfolds.

In another story, a man also conned his mother-in-law by telling her and the rest of their family that he had terminal stomach cancer.

The mother-in-law was appalled at the thought that a “member of the family could do that.” Still, she had him convicted of fraud.