A few days ago, the case of María Leticia Zapata, a 30-year-old girl, moved the Argentina. She assured through a post in the social media who had been diagnosed with uterine cancer and asked to be helped to raise 350 thousand Argentine pesos (about $ 3,600 at the exchange rate) to be able to cover a supposedly alternative treatment, since all conventional therapies had failed her, according to the media that they released the story.
María attached to the publication a photo of her where she was seen shaved and with a sick face, along with what appeared to be a medical certificate. The woman managed to raise more than what he had set out to do through different donations: 396 thousand pesos in total (about 4,100 dollars to change).
But the good faith of those who collaborated with the cause turned into outrage. Is that Justice concluded that everything was false: Maria was never sick, the photos were a hoax and the certificate was fake. As if that were not enough, after the scam came new news: those responsible for the staging are untraceable. María and her partner, Matías Poberezny, are now wanted by the authorities.
“Zapata, María Leticia. Patient with a diagnosis of uterine cancer. You must attend the oncology office on Wednesday “, says the medical certificate that the woman used for her deception and that she is wearing what It would appear to be the signature of the doctor Paola Flores, who attends a nearby hospital. But it was Flores who precisely made the complaint in court and clarified that this is not his letter, nor his signature.
According to the investigations, the scam began when Zapata’s publication circulated on Facebook in which he told about the alleged disease and Asked for help: “Today I painfully have to ask for a small collaboration, no matter how minimal, to achieve the goal of raising the $ 350,000 to continue my treatment”. He also said that he had children and that he had lost his job.
The solidarity of the people was immediate and in a few hours he received money in a bank account. Deposits ranged from $ 100 to $ 1500. Even your case had an impact on the local media where the woman herself gave interviews telling her diagnosis. The woman’s own family reported the situation to the authorities but, according to Infobae, “They did not care.”
With all these data, a judge ordered the capture both Zapata and his partner Matías Leonel Poberezny for the crime of fraud, although the falsification of documents could also be added.
