Preliminary Hearing Continued For Chester County Woman Accused Of Faking Cancer Diagnosis
CHESTER SPRINGS, Pa (CBS) -- The Chester County woman charged in an alleged cancer scam originally was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, but the hearing has been continued to a later date. Police say 32-year-old Jessica Smith of Chester Springs faked having a rare form of cancer and stole over $10,000 raised through a GoFundMe account and Facebook fundraiser.
According to the criminal complaint, she claimed she was being treated at Penn Medicine.
The criminal complaint also shows that Penn Medicine could not find any record of any diagnosis or treatment of any form of cancer.
Police say that Smith's husband along with an acquaintance alerted authorities to the alleged fraud.
Smith also faces charges of identity theft as well as impersonating a police officer in the state of Delaware.