NY woman denies alleged One Fund scam
Aug 2, 2013, 10:18 PM
BOSTON (AP) – A New York woman accused of scamming almost half a million dollars from the Boston Marathon bombing victims fund pleaded not guilty Friday to larceny.
Audrea Gause, 26, of Troy was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court and ordered held on $200,000 bail.
Prosecutors said Gause got a $480,000 check from the One Fund after using faked medical records to claim she was treated at Boston Medical Center and Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y., for traumatic brain injury suffered in the April 15 bombings. Authorities got a tip she may not have been in Boston that day and the hospitals said they didn’t treat her.
Prosecutor Gina Masotta said in court Gause used $377,500 of the money to pay a contractor for a new house. Masotta said the funds were frozen and were in the process of being returned. Masotta also said Gause was convicted in 2008 for possession of stolen property and possession of a forged instrument.
Her attorney said Gause is a married mother of two who has a bachelor’s degree in biology and medical sciences.
Gause was arrested July 19 in Troy, N.Y. She returns to court Sept. 4.
She is the second person charged in connection with an alleged fraud of the One Fund. Brandon Mattier, 22, of Boston, has pleaded not guilty to attempted larceny and identity theft after prosecutors said he tried to collect $2 million on behalf of his long-dead aunt, who he claimed lost her legs in the bombings.
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