Ky. woman accused of faking her cancer

“Cancer has touched everybody out

there,” Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said Monday night. “Everyone knows someone who has suffered who could use charity.”

His office believes 25-year- old Jessica Krecskay spent four years pretending to be that someone, swindling over $10,000 out of well-inten-

tioned supporters to cover medical expenses that didn’t exist, WCPO-TV reports.

Krecskay was arrested Feb. 14 and charged with felony theft by deception, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

“A couple years ago, we had another case where a young lady was prosecuted for receiving funds that were gotten under the mistaken belief that she had cancer,” Sanders said, referring to the scandal surrounding North- ern Kentucky University student Kelly Schmahl.

Schmahl went to extreme lengths to keep her friends convinced she had a gastrointestinal tumor, including shaving her head, asking them to walk her to fake chemo- therapy appointments and purchasing medical equipment such as a wheelchair.

They, in turn, held fundraising events and collected thousands of dollars to cover the cost of treatment.

So did Krecskay’s friends, according to Sanders. He said when Schmahl’s story broke, they noticed similarities they couldn’t ignore. Like Schmahl, Krecskay had benefited from fundraisers in her name between 2013 and 2017.

“The defendant should be embarrassed by what she did,” Sanders said. “We intend to hold her accountable.”