BRIGHTON, Mich. (WSVN) — Police in Michigan say a woman who raised over $30,000 to help pay for her breast cancer treatments may have lied about having the disease.
According to Fox 32, GoFundMe records show 399 people donated a total of $31, 645 since April 2017 to help Candace Streng battle stage four breast cancer. However, Brighton Police said an ongoing investigation has gathered enough evidence to “strongly suggest” Streng lied about having the disease in the first place.
Streng’s supposed cancer battle had previously made headlines, where she told news outlets like the Detroit Free Press that her disease was “spreading like wildfire,” so she started the fundraiser page to help pay for her expensive treatments.
“I’ve tried to describe it to people like a Hail Mary. This is kind of my last chance,” she had told the paper last year.
GoFundMe has since shut down the page. While it was still active, its description said, “Currently undergoing chemotherapy for triple negative breast cancer, Candace was recently informed that the cost of one of the medications she is being treated with (Xeloda) was being increased to an astronomical $6,000+ per month. Even with insurance, patient discounts, and community services designed to help offset the costs associated with cancer treatment, Candace cannot afford the cost of this treatment. It is essential and among the last options remaining for treatment with hope of remission.”
Fox 32 reports that friends of Streng also held a fundraiser in 2017, where they raised $6,000 for what they believed were her treatments. Now, they have released a statement which reads, “We were recently informed that our ‘friend,’ Candace lied for several years about struggling with stage four breast cancer. We let her into our homes, our families and our checkbooks. We had no prior knowledge of her deceit and are fully cooperating with the investigation. We sincerely hope Candace gets the help she so desperately needs.”
Another friend claimed Streng herself confessed to the ruse, writing on Facebook, “I was personally informed by her that she is not a fighter, not a survivor and not trust worthy. She is however a fraud and a master manipulator. Please know that she still does need help, however it’s not the kind of help we were all led to believe that she needed. My heart is breaking, my anger is raging, my trust is broken, my faith is lost.”
GoFundMe has closed the account and said it is working closely with police to refund all of the donations. The company released the following statement to police:
“Our platform is backed by the GoFundMe Guarantee, which means that in the rare case that GoFundMe, law enforcement or a user finds donations are misused, donors are fully protected and will get their money back. Additionally, it’s important to remember that misuse is extremely rare on our platform. Campaigns with misuse make up less than one-tenth of one percent of all campaigns. With that said, there are unfortunate and rare instances where people create campaigns with the intention to take advantage of others’ generosity. In the small handful of cases where misuse occurs, GoFundMe takes action to resolve the issue. In this case, the user has been banned, and we are working with law enforcement officials to ensure donors are refunded.”
Police Chief Robert Bradford said he expects to submit formal charges against Streng to prosecutors in the near future.
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