AG: NY woman fraudulently collected 480K from One Fund Boston

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) – A New York woman has been indicted in connection with collecting a fraudulent $480,000 claim from The One Fund Boston, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced Monday.

Andrea Gause, 26, of Troy, N.Y., claimed she suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the Boston Marathon bombings. She has been indicted on charges of larceny over $250 and gross fraud.

Gause was arrested on July 19 on a fugitive warrant in Troy, N.Y. She was transported back to Massachusetts and arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on August 2. She is currently being held on $200,000 cash bail.

According to the Attorney General's Office, on June 3, One Fund officials received a claim from Gause, which included several pages of purported medical records, indicating that she had been hospitalized at the Boston Medical Center for two days, and thereafter at the Albany Medical Center for 10 days. She claimed she sustained a brain injury and experienced long-term memory loss, impaired speech, and loss of some motor function that would require future surgery.

Gause's claim was approved and paid out at the end of June, the Attorney General's Office said.

Gause allegedly gave $377,500 of the money to a New York construction company as a down payment on a brand new home, authorities said. Investigation also revealed that Gause signed up for a cruise, named the "Heroes Cruise," which was being offered free of charge to victims of the Boston Marathon bombing by a Boston-based travel company.

The Attorney General's Office received information Gause may not have been in Boston during the marathon bombings and launched an investigation.

Authorities proved Gause was not a patient at Boston Medical Center on the day of the bombings and further determined she was not a patient at Albany Medical Center at the times allegedly entered on her notarized claim form.

Investigators were able to secure the $480,000 Gause allegedly stole for return to The One Fund Boston.

Gause is due to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on October 7.

The Attorney General's Office encourages anyone who may have information about other potential fraud to contact State Police assigned to the AG's Office at 617-963-2223.

Cox Media Group