VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (TCD) — A man is in custody after allegedly assuming a false identity, posing as a cancer patient, and defrauding several nonprofit organizations across the country.
According to a news release from Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, a Tampa-area woman who runs a nonprofit first alerted officials about the man a couple months ago. Her organization reportedly provides money for living expenses while cancer patients receive treatment or are in recovery.
The reporting party explained that one man allegedly posed as a cancer patient and received $5,000 from her organization. Detectives later identified the individual as 69-year-old Timothy Bartlett.
According to Chitwood, Bartlett allegedly posed as a woman named “Sally Holmes,” who was “out of work and undergoing treatment for breast cancer.”
Detectives allege Bartlett also posed as a cancer patient to defraud four other nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. All of the nonprofits reportedly provide money for living expenses for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and pediatric cancer patients.
According to the sheriff, Bartlett faces charges of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud. Records show he also faces a count of failure to appear. Bartlett remains held in the Volusia County Jail on $20,500 bond.
Chitwood said, “I have seen a lot of morally reprehensible scams in my career, but this has to be one of the worst.”
In a statement obtained by WOFL-TV, the sheriff also said, “This is our scumbag of the week. I mean, you can’t get much lower than this.”
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