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TORONTO – People who fake a terminal illness to swindle money out of charitable people and bask in the attention of sympathizers might have a medical condition driving that behaviour, experts say.
In two recent but separate cases, young Ontario women have pleaded guilty to pretending to have cancer and collecting money.
Jessica Ann Leeder, 21, appeared in a Timmins, Ont., court Tuesday for a bail hearing, but instead opted to plead guilty to fraud over $5,000. Police said she faked stomach and lung cancer and defrauded her employer out of thousands of dollars.
One week earlier, Ashley Kirilow, 23, of Burlington, Ont., pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 for her cancer hoax, which included creating a bogus charity and collecting money from friends and colleagues.
Scam artists who use an illness to exploit others may suffer from a variety of conditions or disorders, some doctors say, and the motive behind the fraud is not always clear.
Dr. Jose Mejia, the head of the forensic psychiatry division at the University of Western Ontario, said there are clinical cases in which people fake diseases for personal gain — known as malingering.
“They try to misrepresent signs and symptoms of a disease with the purpose of obtaining a benefit,” said Mejia.
And it’s not always about money.
“Sometimes it’s also to be exempted from punishment when they have committed a criminal offence, or sometimes it might be other types of benefits,” Mejia said.
Notoriety through the media could also be considered a gain.
In Kirilow’s case, the Crown argued the woman “enjoyed the attention” when people thought she was dying. She received support from organizations as far away as the United States and she was even given a free trip to Walt Disney World in Florida.
But Kirilow’s lawyer said his client’s motivation was not likely money considering, at most, $20,000 was allegedly stolen.
Unlike other medical disorders where people lie about a disease for unknown reasons, malingering is a condition where an individual methodically plans the charade, Mejia said.
“The person is conscious and completely aware that they suffer no (physical illness),” he said.
A person will often study the symptoms of a disease and lie about who made the diagnosis.
According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is used by clinicians and researchers worldwide, medically sophisticated malingerers have been known to deceive even the best of diagnosticians.
Court heard Kirilow shaved her head, eyebrows and plucked her eyelashes to appear sallow and sick.
Friends of Leeder said she wore knit hats to cover her apparently bald held in order to look ill.
“It’s a little bit of a business transaction,” said Mejia, as he explained how malingering works.
“Shaving your head might be well worth it if you were to consider, ‘well, I’m going to get this amount of money.’ “
Kirilow’s lawyer has said the woman has sought counselling.
Leeder’s supporters were devastated this week after hearing about the charge. Despite that anger, one woman called Leeder just a “sick young lady who needs help.”
Several stories have emerged in recent months of people feigning cancer.
In July, a Tennessee woman was sentenced to 42 months in prison for faking breast cancer to get sick leave and keep donations. Kelee Maynor said she duped coworkers, friends and organizations because she felt unloved and thought up the scheme to get attention.
In September allegations surfaced that a young bride in New York received a free wedding dress and trip to Aruba after telling the media she was suffering from terminal Leukemia. Her husband later came forward claiming she faked the disease, and said he planned to divorce his wife.
With malingering it’s not uncommon for people go to “incredible” lengths to appear to be ill, even if it means they feel pain, Mejia said.
Malingering is different from other conditions in which people are convinced they are sick, even though they have no symptoms and a doctor has given them a clear bill of health, he added. In those cases, there is no obvious benefit to a person.