A British woman has been accused of faking cancer in order to get donations from well-wishers totaling nearly $60,000, money she used to go on shopping sprees and other luxury items. Nicole Elkabbas, a mom from Kent in England, is said to have created a GoFundMe page and even uploaded a staged photo of herself appearing to be in a hospital bed in a “scheme designed to trick and to con,” Kent Online reports.
- She claimed to be battling ovarian cancer. According to reports, the GoFundMe page detailed Elkabbas’ alleged ovarian cancer diagnosis and other “detailed lies” including a faked surgery and several rounds of chemotherapy.
- The money went on luxury items and experiences. The court heard that Elkabbas reportedly used the money she got from donations to go on trips to Rome and Barcelona, to buy a private box at the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, and to go gambling.
- Elkabbas claimed she’d been diagnosed by a former friend who was also a doctor. She claimed that Dr. Nick Morris performed blood tests in 2017 and told her she had ovarian cancer, but he denies this version of events, saying instead that Elkabbas actually informed him she had cancer.
- She’s being charged with fraud and possession of criminal property. Elkabbas is on trial at Canterbury Crown Court this week in regard to these charges, to which she previously pleaded not guilty. Her defense is that since cancer runs in her family, she was sure she had it despite never having had any official diagnoses or undergoing any of the treatments she claims to have had.
- Elkabbas has been described as “totally dishonest.” Prosecutor Ben Irwin told the court: “It was a scheme designed to trick and to con, and she knew it. So she lied about the major surgery, lied about six cycles of chemotherapy, lied about this wonderdrug, the breakthrough drug. She tricked people who gave her money and then she frittered it away.”
