Caught Faking Cancer, Winchester Woman Gets 18 Months In Prison

BOSTON – She faked cancer, stole nearly $1 million from a friend, purchased diamond earrings and fur coats, and Wednesday a Winchester woman got what she deserved.

Winchester's Sager Kopchak, a/k/a Sager Dallai, 34, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 for bank fraud after using forged checks and account numbers to steal nearly a million dollars. In September 2017, Kopchak was charged and agreed to plead guilty to four counts of bank fraud.

In late 2009, Kopchak contacted an individual she knew and asked to stay with the individual for a few weeks while Kopchak received cancer treatment. Kopchak stayed with the individual from late 2009 until the summer of 2010, and paid neither rent nor utilities. In reality, Kopchak did not have cancer and was not undergoing cancer treatment.

While staying with the individual, Kopchak stole a checkbook and, over the next eight years, stole nearly $1 million by forging checks and using the routing numbers from the stolen checks to make charges against the individual’s account. Kopchak used the stolen money to make high end purchases such as a pair of 2.05 karat diamond earrings ($9,700), five fur coats (totaling $21,297), Chanel purses (totaling $9,649), a Cartier watch ($3,250) and a trip to the Bahamas ($11,166), among other things.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was investigated with the assistance of the Boston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.