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Cop's Wife Faked Cancer, Stole $60K from Charity

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on March 15, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

People will do anything to feed their drug habit, which is why it isn't surprising to hear that a woman faked cancer to feed hers.

The surprising part? She's married to a cop. And he didn't catch on for four years.

Ann Crall of Lakewood, Colorado pled guilty to theft and charitable fraud last week for duping friends, neighbors and her husband's cop coworkers into donating time and almost $60,000 to help her battle cancer. Her story is an intricate tale of deceit.

Allegedly diagnosed in 2005, Ann Crall told everyone--including her husband--that she was undergoing treatment for stage-four cancer. During the time that the woman faked cancer, the family received charitable donations and benefited from fundraisers organized in Ann Crall's name.

Eventually, the Lakewood Police Employee Assistance Foundation became suspicious of Ann Crall, details The Denver Post. When the organization requested that she provide proof, the paper reports that she forged a document from a local cancer clinic saying that she was undergoing treatment. But when the organization figured out that the woman faked cancer, her lies crumbled down around her.

Even though money and time were willingly given to Ann Crall, she's still liable under theft law for its acquisition. False pretenses is a form of theft in which the perpetrator knowingly makes a false representation (lies) about an important fact for the purpose of causing someone to pass title to his property. In other words, because Ann Crall intentionally lied about having cancer for the purpose of soliciting donations, she committed theft.

It turns out that Ann Crall faked cancer to obtain money for and access to drugs. She has a criminal history of drug and theft charges according to the Daily Mail, and neighbors report that she asked them for pain medication on more than occasion.

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