WHITE PLAINS – A former Dobbs Ferry woman was sentenced in federal court on Monday to two years in prison for wire fraud in connection with her scheme to defraud donors by falsely claiming she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and needed money to pay for her treatments.
Vedoutie Hoobraj, also known as Shivonie Deokaran, pled guilty to the charge in January.
It was alleged that from 2014 through 2016 in Westchester County and
elsewhere, she solicited donations by falsely stating she had been diagnosed
with terminal stage leukemia, had been given 18 months to live and needed
money for medical care and other expenses.
Through two GoFundMe accounts, direct giving and a fundraising event hosted by parents and students at Ardsley High School, the school attended by her two sons she received over $50,000 donations from over 400 people.
When questioned by Ardsley Police in January 2016, she lied about being diagnosed with cancer by a specific oncologist who she claimed died in an earthquake in Nepal in April 2015.
She later checked herself into a hospital for examination and then provided donors forged lab work indicated results consistent with cancer. The actual medical records provided by the hospital indicated “Your labs turned out to show no abnormalities.”
In addition to the prison term, Hoobraj, 38, now living in Orlando, Florida, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit just under $52,000 and pay restitution to victims of over $47,700.
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