Woman accused of €800,000 cancer scam ordered to psychiatric evaluation

A 38-year-old woman accused of defrauding people of roughly €800,000 by falsely claiming she had cancer has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation by a Finnish district court, Yle reports.

The Western Uusimaa District Court issued the interim ruling on Friday. Prosecutors allege the woman told dozens of people she needed money for cancer treatment, despite not being ill, and used the funds to buy cryptocurrency, among other things.

The court found evidence that she had acted as described in most of the over 50 charges, which include fraud. Prosecutors have sought an unconditional prison sentence.

According to the charges, the woman promised to repay the money once an insurance company covered her supposed treatment costs, though she had no intention or ability to do so. The sums defrauded ranged from a few hundred euros to around €150,000, with victims including acquaintances and businesses. In many cases, she transferred the money to other bank accounts and used most of it to purchase cryptocurrency.

The woman admits to receiving the money and causing financial harm but denies intentionally deceiving the victims or concealing her inability to repay. The offences are alleged to have taken place last year in Espoo.

A final verdict will be issued once the psychiatric evaluation is complete.