Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
A Falls Township woman who faked cancer was sent to prison and will have to pay back $135,000 she received for cancer treatments that authorities say never happened.
Cynthia Clarey, 61, was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in the Bucks County Correctional Facility Wednesday and 10 years probation by county Judge Wallace Bateman Jr., according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
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Bateman also said he would approve Clarey’s house arrest if the prison approve her for the program.
The 61-year-old Falls Township woman pleaded guilty earlier this year to felony insurance fraud, theft by deception, attempted theft by deception and five counts of identity theft.
Clarey was arrested in September 2015 for allegedly defrauding her insurance company of just under $135,000. She claimed that both her and her husband had cancer and were undergoing pricey treatments. Investigators later confirmed Clarey and her husband were not receiving cancer treatments and had not suffered from the devastating disease at the time.
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Bateman was reportedly not pleased Wednesday when Clarey suggested she could perform community service to help those suffering from cancer as part of her sentence. The judge cut off the 61-year-old and said what she did was “an insult to every person who suffers from cancer.”
Clarey told the court in January that she used the insurance money to pay household bills and help her unemployed husband with medical care for unreleased conditions.
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Bucks County Detective Eric Landamia testified Wednesday that Clarey bought $4,000 in furniture and spent $8,900 for her daughter’s wedding during the time she was receiving the insurance payouts.
Defense attorney John Kerrigan acknowledged the serious nature of the crime. However, he asked Bateman to allow Clarey to serve house arrest to care for her ill husband and work to repay the restitution.
“I’m a terrible person for doing that,” Clarey told Bateman when she pleaded guilty.
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Over the course of a year, Clarey filed claims for 462 cancer-related treatments with a total cost of $503,213. The claims came along with fake documents from medical practices that supported her fraudulent claims.
The investigation was handled by the grant-funded Bucks County District Attorney’s Insurance Fraud Unit. The specialty unit looks into insurance fraud and works with the Pennsylvania State Insurance Commission.
