New York Mother-Of-Two Accused Of Faking Cancer To Scam Community Out Of $60K, Skipped Town When Questioned
A New York mother-of-two, Shivonie Deokaran, is accused of scamming her community out of $60,000 by faking a terminal cancer diagnosis. The single mother of two teenage boys told her friends and those in her local community that she had been diagnosed with terminal leukemia and only had 18 months left to live. Her diagnosis was met with support from her community of Ardsley as everyone banded together to raise money for the woman’s alleged “mounting medical bills.” Multiple GoFundMe accounts were set up for Shivonie and a community spaghetti dinner was organized. In total, Shivonie Deokaran would raise over $60,000 for her medical bills as well as receiving a therapy dog named Gia which was paid for by supporters.
The Daily Mail reports that concerned neighbors gave money to single mother Shivonie’s GoFundMe accounts as the mother disclosed to the community that she was dying from terminal cancer. In support of the mother, the town supervisor Paul Feiner even stepped in to help the mother raise the funds needed to pay for her treatments. Feiner raised $12,000 in his efforts to go along with the $25,000 raised by a GoFundMe account.
After Shivonie’s plight was heard in the community, a spaghetti dinner to raise funds for Deokaran was put on by the local high school football team which raised an additional $16,000. Various other fundraisers took place across the community with Shivonie Deokaran earning over $60,000 in donations.
Shivonie also put her pleas to the dog rescue community telling Life With Dogs that she was going to have to give up her dog Gia due to the fact that she was likely going to lose her home for nonpayment. The alleged cancer patient told the publication that due to medical bills, she was unable to pay her mortgage and was slated to lose her home. In the process, she would also lose her dog Gia. Therefore, a GoFundMe page was shared with the dog lovers in a bid to help her pay for her mortgage so she could keep her rescue dog.
However, police say that they were tipped off to the fact that Shivonie may not be as sick as she seems.
Police then went to the mother’s home and requested medical documentation of her condition. Instead of providing the documents to police, it was reported that Shivonie fled the state. The mother-of-two quickly closed her Indian food restaurant and moved to Florida without warning after police showed up to her home requesting documentation of her illness. Now many members in the community think they have been duped.
According to Inside Edition, Ardsley Police Officer Tony Vacca will not provide additional information on the case as he says it is an open investigation. However, he did reveal that the case was open a few months ago when someone voiced concerns to the department about whether Shivonie’s health was as bad as she was portraying to the community.
“It’s an open investigation. That’s all we can elaborate on. We don’t want to jeopardize the case.”
Those in the community say it is “disappointing” that someone would potentially fake a terminal illness to scam people out of their money. However, Shivonie’s boyfriend Nikhlesh Parekh says Shivonie is still ill but moved abruptly to Florida for alternative medicine treatments. The boyfriend claims that Shivonie Deokaran stopped chemotherapy and is now seeking alternative medicine therapies in Florida.
Despite the boyfriend’s claims to Shivonie’s innocence, the police still have not received medical documentation of the woman’s condition and many are questioning her motives. What do you think about the mother-of-two leaving the state after her condition was probed? Should she be forced to prove her terminal cancer diagnosis since she took $60,000 in donations from the community?
[Image via Facebook/ Shivonie Deokaran]
