A 49-year-old Portland, Maine woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the One Fund, the charity established to help victims of the Boston Marathon bombings pay medical bills resulting from injuries sustained in the April 15, 2013 attacks, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced.
The Maine woman, Amey Molloy, received more than $8,000 for a claim submitted in June 2013. A second claim of $12,500, filed by Molloy in July 2014, drew the suspicion of the Mass. Attorney General’s Office, which launched its investigation in August.
“Subsequent investigation revealed that portions of the medical records attached to Molloy’s first and second claims were not authentic, and that she was not treated for any bombing-related injuries,” AG’s Office announced in a Wednesday press release.
The AG’s investigation found that in 2013, the One Fund received Molloy’s initial claim, which indicated she had undergone foot surgery in Portland due to an injury she purportedly sustained in the twin-bombing attack. She received $8,000 for this claim and was set to receive another $12,500 for an additional claim regarding a 2014 hip procedure.
“We allege that this defendant defrauded The One Fund Boston by falsely claiming she had been injured at the Boston Marathon bombing,” AG Coakley said in astatement included in the release. “She allegedly stole money from the thousands of people who had so generously donated to help the real victims of the Marathon bombing.”
BostInno contacted Maine Medical Center in Portland, the state’s largest hospital, requesting information about Molloy. However, due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), MMC is unable to comment. The 1996 privacy act, MMC spokesperson Matt Paul told BostInno by phone, federally prohibits hospitals from discussing patient records – “or even search for the name of a patient who might have received treatment” – in the system.
HIPAA policies are enforced by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights.
Molloy has been charged with larceny over $250 and attempted larceny.
Mugshot via Cumberland County Jail Jail.
