• Mom convinces son he has cancer to scam money from friends, cops allege

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    By Danielle Johnson, NBC10.com

    Police have charged a New Jersey mother who allegedly lied and said her son was suffering from cancer in order to deceive friends and loved ones out of thousands of dollars.

    Investigators say Susan Stillwagon, 35, stole as much as $3,500 through cupcake and bracelet fundraisers by claiming that her 9-year-old son had a type of lymphoma and needed medical care.

    "You tell people your son has cancer and they want to help," said Police Lieutenant Michael Probasco in Pennsauken, N.J.

    Police got a tip earlier this week that Stillwagon’s story about her son wasn’t adding up. Investigators subpoenaed medical records and discovered she had been lying.

    Probasco says Stillwagon even convinced her son he was sick to carry out the scheme.

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    The suspect’s mother, who did not tell NBC10.com her name, says that her daughter is being treated at a local hospital.

    “I will just tell you my daughter is sick and something snapped in her head. That’s why she is where she is so that we can find out what’s wrong with her,” said Stillwagon’s mother. “I am very concerned for my daughter, very concerned. We will get through this but people have to leave us alone or we will never get through it.”

    New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Families checked on Stillwagon's four children Tuesday.

    “They came to make sure the house is livable, food in fridge and that the kids aren't being mistreated and they didn’t find any of that,” said Lieutenant Michael Probasco.

    Tamara Disalvo, a neighbor, says her thoughts are with the little boy.

    “Just as a friend and neighbor you do feel deceived by this. He must be pretty confused because of he was deceived this way by his mother, that’s got to feel awful,” said Disalvo.

    Stillwagon was charged with theft by deception and using her own son to commit a crime.

  • Kansas City homeless raise money for girl with cancer

    By Craig Giammona, NBC News

    The men who frequent City Union Mission's emergency homeless shelter in downtown Kansas City don't have much but for the last two years, they've been  quietly raising money to help defray the medical expenses of a local girl with leukemia.

    And last week, Payton Adams, 4, and her mother visited the shelter for the first time and met some of the men who have been helping the family.


    "It is amazing how these guys who have very little, how pennies up to dollars, dollars add up to hundreds. We have sometimes come out of here with $500, $300, whatever they have," LeiLani Adams, Payton's mom, told local NBC affiliate KSHB. "It has really been a blessing."

    Officials at the shelter said the fundraising project was started by Johnny Evans, the evening manager at the shelter.

    Evans, a former shelter resident who now works there, is also a security guard at the daycare center that Payton attends and got to know the family there, said Laurie Grant, City Union Mission's media coordinator.

    Grant said the shelter staff had no idea about the fundraising project until recently, when a member of the staff overheard Evans talking about it.

    "That's how we realized it was going on," Grant said. "There can be negative stereotypes about the homeless, but with your clients you get to know them and you realize they want to help and have a purpose and be part of something bigger. It wasn't just pennies and nickles and dimes — there were dollars in there."

    The men at the shelter have been collecting the donations in large plastic water jugs. Last week marked the third time the men have delivered a jug of donations to the family.

  • High court signals skepticism on patenting genes

    By Pete Williams, Justice Correspondent, NBC News

    In a Supreme Court test of whether a company can be granted a patent on the genes in the human body, a majority of the justices indicated during Monday's oral arguments that the court is likely to rule that a human gene can’t be patented. 

    It would be one thing, several of the justices said during Monday’s oral arguments, for a company to seek a patent on a test for breast cancer that was developed by analyzing a human gene, but it would be going too far to be awarded a patent on the gene itself.

    "What's the difference between snipping off a piece of the liver or kidney, and seeking a patent on that, and seeking a patent on a piece of a gene?" asked Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

    Justice Samuel Alito made a different analogy, to someone seeking a patent on a plant found in the Amazon rain forest that bore leaves containing a cancer cure. "You could patent the process used to get the chemical out and the use of the result, but you cannot patent the plant," he said. 

    Stelios Varias / Reuters file photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington

    The case, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, involves a test that has helped guide more than a million women in their medical decisions. The test can determine whether the composition of their genes makes them more likely to get breast or ovarian cancer.

    Myriad Genetics, a Utah company, owns patents on two parts of human genes known as BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, named for the first two letters of the words breast and cancer.

    Women with mutations in those genes face up to an 85 percent risk of getting breast cancer and up to a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer. Because of the patents, Myriad has a monopoly on performing all diagnostic tests related to BRCA 1 and BRCA 2.

    In the past three decades, the federal government has granted nearly 3,000 similar patents on genetic material. Without such protection, Myriad argues, companies would be less willing to spend the money required for making genetic discoveries.

    "Countless companies and investors have risked billions of dollars to research and develop advances under this promise of stable patent protection," according to Gregory Castanias, a Washington, D.C, lawyer who argued the case for Myriad.

    The idea of patenting DNA material has provoked a strong debate among scientists, and many have lined up on opposite sides of the case.

    "Human genes should not be patented," says James Watson, the Nobel Prize winner and co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA.

    "Life's instructions ought not be controlled by legal monopolies created at the whim of Congress or the courts," he says.

    But a group of researchers at the University of Maryland is among those arguing just the opposite. "The costs are outweighed by the benefits stemming from the fruits of increased inventive activity," they say in their friend-of-court brief.

    In the 220 years since Thomas Jefferson wrote the cornerstone of U.S. patent law, the courts have agreed on a general principle: patents protect inventions, not products of nature. A central issue in this case is whether Myriad has obtained a patent on something already in the body or has created something new.

    The ACLU, representing a group of scientists, doctors, and cancer patients, claims that Myriad has merely removed from the body something that was already there -- the DNA sequence making up the BRAC 1 and BRAC 2 genes. Because it is a creation of nature, the ACLU says, it cannot be protected by a patent, even though Myriad claims that removing it is what makes it useful.

    "Gold does not become patentable once taken out of a stream because it can be used in jewelry. Kidneys do not become patentable once taken out of a body because they can be transplanted," says the ACLU's Christopher Hansen.

    Myriad's exclusive patent, says the ACLU, creates a monopoly that denies women the ability to seek a second opinion, based on another test of the genetic material, and dissuades other laboratories from pursuing research on the patented genes.

    The ACLU also contends that because the test costs roughly $3,000, many women cannot afford it or lack the necessary insurance coverage. If the gene was not under patent protection, the ACLU says, competition would make the test cheaper.

    But Myriad argues that removing the gene sequence from the body requires breaking chemical bonds that lock it into place, thereby creating a new chemical entity.

    The resulting genetic materials, the company says, "were never available to the world until Myriad's scientists applied their inventive faculties to a previously undistinguished mass of genetic matter."

    Myriad cites a line of cases finding patent eligibility for naturally occurring substances that were isolated and purified, including aspirin, vitamin B12, and adrenaline derived from cows.

    As for availability, the company says the cost of the test is covered by private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. It also says many other labs provide second opinions regarding the company's test results and that thousands of researchers have done studies on the gene sequence involved, unimpeded by the patent.

    The Obama administration has urged the court to be deeply skeptical of Myriad's broad claim of what can be patented. The Justice Department's brief in the case says the public interest has consistently been given precedence by the Supreme Court "in avoiding undue restrictions imposed by patents that effectively preempt natural laws and substances."   

    NBC's Tom Curry contributed to this report.

    This story was originally published on Mon Apr 15, 2013 4:17 AM EDT

  • NYC woman says she was evicted because she had cancer

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    By Roseanne Colletti, NBCNewYork.com

    A New York woman has filed a federal discrimination suit against her former landlord, alleging she has been evicted from her apartment because of her cancer.

    Heatheran Kristopher said she spent two years battling colon and ovarian cancer. When her rent went into arrears, her landlord at the time worked with her.

    “They made a payment plan for me,” she said. Kristopher paid back everything she owed and continued to pay rent.

    But things changed when the apartment building on East 81st Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side was sold, she said. The new landlord refused to honor the lease agreement she had worked out with the previous owner and raised her rent by $750 a month up to almost $3,000, shortened the lease time and demanded additional security money totaling thousands of dollars.

    “They worried if my cancer came back, I wouldn’t be in a position to pay my rent,” according to Kristopher.

    Kristopher rejected the deal but said she continued to pay as she had and filed a discrimination complaint with the New York Division of Human Rights. It determined there was probable cause, but Kristopher decided against pursuing that case at that time.

    But things changed dramatically for her last week. An eviction notice was put on her door, and on Monday, city marshals arrived to change the locks. With the help of neighbors and family, Kristopher has moved her belongings into storage and is living temporarily with a friend.

    Her complaint before the U.S. Southern District Court alleges she was discriminated against solely on the basis of her disability, her cancer.

    George Shea of Shea Communications, a spokesman for the landlord, Stone Street Properties, said her lease had expired and she was living in the building without one. In an emailed statement to us, Shea said, “Management was highly sensitive to the tenant’s illness and made repeated efforts to settle this case, including offering a one-year lease extension with no rent increase." 

    Shea described the claim of discrimination as "untrue, unfair and deeply unfortunate."

    Kristopher is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, and in the meantime, she will look for new lodging.

    “I’m not going to let this break me,” she said.

  • 'This generation's Agent Orange:' New registry to tally, track burn pit illnesses among vets

    Mark Rankin / U.S. Army file

    A bulldozer dumps a load of trash into a burn pit just 300 yards from the runway at Bagram Airfield. A law signed by President Barack Obama will create a registry of U.S. service members who may have been sickened or killed by burn pits used throughout Iraq and Afghanistan.

    By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

    An American flag dangles from the Torres home, the sign of a long battle won: a new law — signed Thursday by President Barack Obama — creating a registry of U.S. service members perhaps sickened or killed by burn pits used throughout Iraq and Afghanistan to destroy waste ranging from batteries to body parts.

    But amid occasional smiles over the first step to formally identify the toxic effects of what’s called “this generation’s Agent Orange,” there were tears, too, in that house near Corpus Christi, Texas. Resident Le RoyTorres, 40, a former Army captain, is one of the ill veterans who will land on that list.


    “It was a big victory. It justifies the need for health care. And now we know we’re not alone,” said Rosie Lopez-Torres, Le Roy’s wife, who said she “knocked on a lot of doors” in Congressional hallways to push the bill, which passed Dec. 30. The law requires the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to assemble the registry and report back to Congress. 

    “But because of (our) finances, because my husband can’t work, today was also one of the toughest days for us,” Lopez-Torres said Wednesday. “Today, he was in tears. I’m not going to sugar coat that. How do I convince this once-strong, 6-foot-tall man who never missed a day of work: ‘You are the same man.’ But as the head of the household, he said: ‘You don’t understand what this has done to me.’ So it’s hard. But we still hang that flag on our porch. This has nothing to do with the military. This has to do with the contractors.”

    After a lung biopsy, Le Roy Torres was diagnosed in 2010 with constrictive bronchiolitis, an irreversible disease that squeezes off airways. In 2007 and 2008, he was stationed in Balad, Iraq — home to what may have been largest military burn pit — the size of 10 football fields. Torres, for a time, performed his daily calisthenics near the dark plumes emitted by the smoldering crater.

    Forced by breathing problems to later retire from his post-Army job as a highway patrolman, Torres is one of thousands of veterans who have filed more than 50 lawsuits against defense contractors hired to handle waste management in the war zones. The Motley Rice law firm is representing Torres and other veterans and their survivors in one of those class-action suits.

    Attorneys allege the contractors — including KBR, Inc. and its former parent company, Halliburton — mismanaged the burns and exposed American troops to poison fumes. Last July, KBR’s lawyers argued that 55 such cases should be dismissed, in part because employees from the Houston-based company served “shoulder-to-shoulder” with service members, which should grant KBR the same immunity given to government entities and personnel, such as soldiers.

    Service members, however, have complained for a decade that burn pits scattered across Iraq and Afghanistan were making them sick with cancers and other diseases, and were killing some young troops. In 2007, Army and Air Force health inspectors went to Balad and measured airborne, cancer-causing dioxins at 51 times the “acceptable levels.” They determined the cancer risk for people serving at the base for more than one year was eight times higher than normal. In 2008, the Military Times reported that single burn pit might have exposed tens of thousands of troops to dioxins and toxins such as arsenic.

    What has been the health toll on U.S. troops? That’s what the new registry is designed to calculate, said Paul Rieckhoff, founder and chief executive officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a group representing more than 200,000 former service members.

    “This is something we’ve been fighting for, for years. It will be one database where doctors can go and look at the common symptoms. It also will help verify the problem quicker so vets can get the care they need,” said Rieckhoff, who served as a first lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq during 2003 and 2004. He has experienced respiratory problems, although he cannot pinpoint the cause. “I don’t know too many people who weren’t exposed to a burn pit sometime during their deployment. They were constant.”

    The smoking landfills typically contained damaged Humvees, unexploded ordnance, gas cans, mattresses, rocket pods, plastics, medical waste and amputated body parts, and they often were ignited by jet fuel.

    The act does not mandate new VA benefits for veterans who chronically inhaled the vapors, Rieckhoff said. But the registry is expected to help private and government doctors document health conditions potentially related to burn pits, and perhaps hasten many diagnoses.

    “It will help us get to the bottom of what’s causing so many vets to be sick,” he added. “We don’t know what toxic exposure is going to be (shown). It could be our generation’s Agent Orange (the defoliant used in Vietnam, later shown to be carcinogenic). But it’s important that you start with data. Data will be a critical part of identifying the problem and then creating good treatment. I’m glad we didn’t have to wait decades like the Vietnam veterans did around Agent Orange.”

    Le Roy Torres, for example, has been given a 10 percent disability rating by the VA, said his wife, who calls that ruling “a joke” because “he served for 22 years, lost his childhood dreams, his career, just turned 40 and is unable to work because of his lung disease which also has affected his heart.” The Torres family is fighting the VA for a higher disability rating and, thus, higher compensation for his service-related symptoms. 

    Before the lawsuits and the law, a handful of military families launched their own, online registries for service members, veterans and their survivors so they could report their symptoms and mark how closely they had served to one or several of the burn pits. 

    As Le Roy Torres struggled harder to breathe, he and his wife launched BurnPits360.org. The site lists 11 service members who descended from full health to terminal cancer after serving near a burn pit. That roll includes Air Force Sgt. Jessica Sweet, who died of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2009 at age 30. She served in Afghanistan. Also listed is Army Staff Sgt. Steven Ochs, who died from AML in 2008 at age 32. He served in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

    One of the registry's primary goals is to determine if there are tangible links between the deaths of service members like Sweet and Ochs and their exposure to the burn pits.

    “How many have been affected? Every week I get an email from someone who has passed,” Rosie Lopez-Torres said. “We started our registry because we weren’t going to wait on the Department of Defense and VA. Our list of people who have self reported their data — whether it’s the loved one of a fallen hero who lost the battle with toxic exposure, or someone who is fighting the battle — is well over 1,000 people. They are from all over the country.

    “The hardest thing for us is trying to figure out the finances day to day, and hearing (from the government) ‘just wait’ on your retirement check,” she added. “He’s hearing, ‘wait, wait, wait’ but he’s having to provide for his family. And he’s looking at his life and saying: “What am I going to do now?’”

  • Parade turns to vigil for Kansas teen who dies hours before homecoming

    By NBC News staff

    Heersche family

    Undated photo of Taylor Heersche

    What was supposed to be a welcome-home parade instead turned into a somber candlelight vigil for a terminally ill 15-year-old Kansas girl who died hours before she was to return home.

    Residents of the town of Mulvane had decorated Main Street with ribbons and signs in orange — the color of leukemia awareness — to welcome Taylor Heersche home Tuesday evening, The Wichita Eagle reported.


    Taylor had been terminally ill with cancer and had told her family she wanted to be at home to die. Doctors at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City told the family she had only a few more days to live, so the plan was to release her to be with her family and friends.

    But Taylor passed away Tuesday morning at the hospital, with her parents, DeAnne and Dan Heersche, at her side.

    Instead of the parade, Mulvane residents gathered for a candlelight vigil late Tuesday to honor the Mulvane High School sophomore, the Eagle reported.

    “I’ll bet every parent says that their kid was special. But she was a real people person. There were no strangers,” DeAnne Heersche said of her daughter, according to the Eagle.

    “That kind of kid leaves a huge hole not only in our family, but in the community. We’re all going to miss her horribly.”

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    "It's still a homecoming in our eyes, it's just a different home that she's going to, a better home that she's going to, so it's more of a celebration than the grief,"  Maggie Keys, one of Taylor's classmates, was quoted as saying by KWCH-TV.

    Taylor, a sophomore at Mulvane High School, was diagnosed with the leukemia in May 2008 when she was 10.

    Taylor's leukemia had been in remission for several years following chemotherapy. But last winter the cancer returned aggressively.

    Services are Sunday at Central Community Church in Wichita, with a private burial Monday.

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  • Lemonade stand vs. cancer: Boy raises $80,000 to aid research

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    By Gordon Tokumatsu and Julie Brayton, NBCLosAngeles.com

    LA HABRA, Calif. -- When Max Igoe was 5 years old, breast cancer claimed the life of his mother's best friend, 37-year-old Beth Rorman. The little boy found himself expressing his pain with the kind of idea only a kindergartner might conceive: a lemonade stand.


    "It's just the first thing that popped into my head," said Max, now 14.

    Nicki Igoe, Max's mother, said her son was aware her friend was sick.

    "He knew that she had something called cancer," she recalled. Rorman battled the illness for some 10 years.

    Max told his mom he would set up a lemonade stand near their La Habra home, and raise money for breast cancer research. Maybe even help them discover a cure.

    "I explained to him that it wasn't the olden days. That people don't buy lemonade from peoples' driveways like they used to," Nicki said.

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    But she didn't want to hurt his feelings, either, not while he was mourning "Auntie Beth's" loss. So she helped him mix some juice, prop up a table and hand-print some signs.

    This weekend, they will set up Max's stand for the ninth year in a row after years full of hundreds of gallons of pink sweet liquid, numerous raffles, "casino-night" fundraisers and days of labor.

    Max has exceeded his wildest dreams: "We've raised over $80,000."

    His goal? "A million dollars." And a cure.

    Nicki said after every sale, they ask him if he wants to continue, and his answer for the last nine years has been the same: Yes.

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  • Woman who faked cancer to raise money for breast implants sentenced to a year in jail

    Maricopa County Sheriff's Office / AP file

    Jami Lynn Toler, 27, faked having breast cancer so she could have her breasts augmented, according to Arizona police.

    By NBC News staff

    A Phoenix woman accused of pretending to have cancer to raise money for breast implants was sentenced on Wednesday to one year in jail, local media reported.


    As part of a plea agreement, Jami Lynn Toler, 27, will also get three years’ probation and pay restitution, The Arizona Republic reported. 

    "I am so sorry for violating the trust placed in me and so sorry for what I did," Toler said at her sentencing, according to kpho.com.

    Toler pleaded guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court last month to theft.

    According to prosecutors, Toler told her family, friends and co-workers at Hallmark Hospice that she had breast cancer and needed money for a double mastectomy and breast reconstructive surgery.

    Toler's mother created a website for donations, and police said people donated more than $8,000 to the cause beginning in 2011.

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    According to court records, Toler paid a doctor $5,800 cash for breast augmentation surgery that was performed Nov. 15.

    Staff at her workplace became suspicious when she couldn't provide a doctor’s note for her medical leave, according to wptv.com.

    Medical records later obtained by police show she didn't have cancer.

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  • US adds cancer to list of illnesses linked to 9/11 terror attacks

    The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is giving surviving first responders and victims of the 9/11 attacks cancer coverage under the Zadroga Health and Compensation Law. NBC's Robert Bazell reports.

    By NBC News and wire services

    Updated at 5:15 p.m. ET: The federal government on Monday added 14 categories of cancer to the list of illnesses linked to the 9/11 terror attacks, which brings added coverage to rescue workers and people living near ground zero on Sept. 11, 2001.


    The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health approved the additions to the list of illnesses covered in the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which were proposed in June. The updated regulations take effect 30 days after the ruling is published in the Federal Register.

    See more on this story on NBCNewYork.com

    The decision "marks an important step in the effort to provide needed treatment and care to 9/11 responders and survivors," said Dr. John Howard, administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program established by the Zadroga law. 

    The Zadroga Act — named after NYPD Detective James Zadroga, who died at age 34 after working at ground zero — was signed into law nearly two years ago. Despite the hundreds of sick responders, the act did not cover cancer because of a supposed lack of scientific evidence linking cancer to ground zero toxins.

    "We are getting sick in record numbers," said Ray Pfeiffer, a first responder who was diagnosed three years ago with kidney cancer. He said it has been a struggle to pay for expensive medications not fully covered by his insurance.

    "It's fantastic news," he said of the expanded list of covered illnesses.

    From the first hours of rescue efforts at the World Trade Center site, many feared that the fumes and dust contained chemicals that might cause cancer and other diseases. A new study claims those firemen suffer an increased rate of cancer. NBC's Robert Bazell reports.

    About 400 residents and rescue workers have died from cancer since 9/11, according to the New York Post.

    With cancer included in the program more victims are likely to seek compensation, which could cause individual awards to be reduced as officials divide up the $2.77 billion fund.

    "They’re going to add cancers, but are they going to add more money to the fund?" Thomas "T.J." Gilmartin, who suffers from lung disease and sleep apnea, said to the Post. "It’s crazy. Every time, we gotta fight. It’s two years since Obama signed that bill, and nobody’s got 10 cents."

    "We fought long and hard to make sure that our 9/11 heroes suffering from cancers obtained from their work at ground zero get the help they deserve," U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer, both of New York, said in a statement. "Today's announcement is a huge step forward that will provide justice and support to so many who are now suffering from cancer and other illnesses. We will press on - with advocates, the community, and our partners in government - to ensure that all those who suffered harm from 9/11 and its aftermath get the access to the program they so desperately need."

    Family photo via NY Daily News / AP File

    In this undated file photo, New York City Police Det. James Zadroga, left, holds his daughter Tylerann. Fifty cancers will be added to the Zadroga Act, which was named after the detective--who died of respiratory failure in Jan. 2006 after working at ground zero.

    Last week, the New York City Fire Department added nine names to the 55 already etched on a wall honoring members who have died of illnesses related to ground zero rescue and recovery work, Reuters reported.

    Some estimates put the overall death toll from 9/11-related illness at more than 1,000, according to Reuters. At least 20,000 ground zero workers are being treated across the country and 40,000 are being monitored by the World Trade Center Health Program, Reuters reported.

    Tuesday marks the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. 

    Last fall, the September 11 Memorial at ground zero finally opened in the footprints of the original towers. Since then, more than 4 million people have visited.

    Financial, security and design setbacks have delayed the redevelopment of the World Trade Center in the past decade. A recent project audit indicates that overall site redevelopment costs have grown to nearly $15 billion.

    One World Trade Center is nearing completion and is expected to open in 2014.

    NBCNewYork.com's Brynn Gingras and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Calif. sues major veterans charity for millions, alleges fraud and self-dealing

    By NBC News wire services

    California's attorney general sued a major veterans charity on Thursday, accusing the officers and directors of engaging in self-dealing and fraudulent fundraising, and paying excessive compensation.

    The suit seeks to remove the officers and recover $4.3 million that it claims was improperly diverted from Help Hospitalized Veterans. The charity in Winchester, Calif., was founded in 1971 to provide therapeutic arts and craft activities for patients receiving care in Veterans Affairs hospitals, military hospitals and state veterans homes, according to its website.

    "What makes this case so egregious is our military servicemen and women are willing to sacrifice their lives for our country and for us as Americans, and when they are in need of help and support we should give it to them and not manipulate charitable people and then personally profit from them," state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris told The Associated Press.

    The charity raised more than $108 million in contributions over the last three years, it said in tax filings and on its website, with 33.8 percent going toward its programs. The suit alleges that it filed "false and misleading" tax returns that inflated program expenses and reduced its actual fundraising costs to "less than 30 percent."

    Afghan suicide bomber kills senior Army leader, 2 majors


    Based on its reported fundraising, Help Hospitalized Veterans ranks among the top 1 percent of charities in the United States. The group once was endorsed by retired Gen. Tommy Franks, who later distanced himself from the charity.

    At the same time, it has ranked for more than a decade at the bottom of lists by watchdog groups that rate nonprofit organizations based on their financial management and abilities to use most of their donations toward their causes. CharityWatch says about 35 percent of Help Hospitalized Veterans' funds go toward programs to aid veterans. The recommended standard is about 65 percent.

    On a mission: Jogging across the US in name of veterans

    The California lawsuit said the charity's president, Michael Lynch, received excessive compensation of $900,000.

    The complaint said that former president Roger Chapin, who during a 2008 U.S. congressional hearing about his management of the charity called himself the "the most honest person in this room," retired the following year with a nearly $2 million pension plan. The suit alleges that the group's board members retroactively spiked Chapin's earnings to justify the inflated amount for his retirement.

    Social impact investing catches on in the US

    Chapin is also accused of diverting the charity's funds through a separate charity called Conquer Cancer and Alzheimer's Now.

    Chapin was accused of paying himself more than $493,000 from the cancer charity. That charity received the money from American Target Advertising, a fund-raising firm run by conservative political fundraiser Richard Viguerie, who is not named in the suit.

    More charity news in NBCNews.com's Giving section

    'It's surprising it's taken this long'
    Viguerie, who is identified in the suit as Chapin's long-time friend, is said to have deposited funds into the account of Conquer Cancer and Alzheimer's Now from $800,000 that Help Hospitalized Veterans had lent ATA and was not repaid.

    "It's surprising it's taken this long for something to happen with all the serious problems that were brought up in the (2008 congressional) hearing," said Daniel Borochoff of CharityWatch, which monitors the financial records of nonprofit groups. "What's more, this information did not filter down to donors."

    But he added: "Mr. Chapin spun a complex web to confuse well-intentioned donors and make it difficult for regulators to untangle."

    Afghan officials: 3 US special forces troops slain

    Calls to Help Hospitalized Veterans and Lynch's office were not returned. Viguerie did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment. Reuters was unable to contact Chapin on Thursday evening.

    Borochoff said the complaint sends a strong message to unscrupulous charities.

    "It's about $2 billion that is raised on behalf of veterans charity, and unfortunately a lot of that's being wasted and not being used to help our veterans," Borochoff said. "It's really ludicrous what's going on. It's out of control, there's such great waste. It's a national disgrace that people are allowed to exploit veterans for their own personal financial benefit, or benefit of their company."

    More Southern California coverage from NBCLosAngeles.com

    According to Charity Navigator, a third of the 50 military veterans charities it evaluates rate poorly and 20 percent either got a zero for their financial management or a "donor advisory" tag, which indicates the organizations are being investigated by authorities.

    That compares to 2 percent for other kinds of charities, said Ken Berger, the president of the Washington-based group that evaluates 5,500 charities.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

     

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  • Woman who faked cancer to pay for 'dream wedding' gets time served

    Booking photo for Jessica Vega.

    By NBC News and news services

    An upstate New York woman who faked having cancer to con donors into paying for her wedding and Caribbean honeymoon is being released after less than two months in jail.


    Jessica Vega, 25, apologized Wednesday in court in Orange County, New York, for the scam. A prosecutor says she has paid back more than $13,000 to people she victimized.

    The judge then sentenced her to time served. Vega was arrested April 3 and pleaded guilty to the scam three weeks later.

    Her lawyer says she'll be released later Wednesday from the county jail.

    Vega claimed in 2010 that she was dying of leukemia and wanted a "dream wedding" to Michael O'Connell, the father of her baby.

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    Prosecutors said Vega raised thousands of dollars with her cancer story, paying for a May 2010 wedding and a honeymoon to Aruba. After news of her plight spread, businesses such as a bridal dress shop and a restaurant donated to her cause.

    The Times Herald-Record of Orange County, New York, then reported that Vega's husband had called it four months after the wedding to accuse her of faking the illness. The couple divorced over the incident, O'Connell told the paper. He wasn't charged in the matter.

    O'Connell says that Vega will live with his family after her release.

    This article includes reporting from NBCNewYork.com, The Associated Press and Reuters.

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