Woman Faked Cancer, Pocketed $25K, Authorities Say

CUMMING, GA -- A Cumming woman who faked having ovarian cancer accepted nearly $25,000 worth of donations and gifts, according to authorities.

Mary Bennett, 29, was arrested earlier this month and charged with misdemeanor theft by taking and felony first-degree forgery, the Forsyth County News reports.

“She got so much,” Deputy Epifanio Rodriguez, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, told the paper. “She got a trip to Houston, which she said she was using to get medical treatments. She got Braves tickets and signed letters from players. She went on a hunting trip. It was just so many different events.”

Detectives say Bennett started faking Stage IV ovarian cancer in 2010.

She also went skydiving, rode in a hot-air balloon, took a free trip to New Orleans, visited Treasure Bay in Biloxi, rode the Skyview in Atlanta and went fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, the sheriff’s office says.

Bennett, a licensed practical nurse, was released on $2,365 bond after her arrest. Rodriguez said the theft charge against her is only a misdemeanor because more victims have not come forward.

“We’re almost positive there are more victims out there,” he told the Forsyth County News. “She fed off the kindheartedness of the people in this community.”

The forgery charge is based on Bennett allegedly giving fake medical records to detectives when they began investigating her claims.

Bennett’s Houston trip was made possible by a fundraiser at Donut Connection in north Forsyth County -- a spaghetti dinner that raised $4,000.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who thinks they were victimized by Bennett to come forward by calling detectives at (770) 781-3038.