RI Woman Accused Of Posing As Wounded Marine Veteran To Scam Charities: 'She Had All The Right Stories'

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CBS) -- Prosecutors say a Rhode Island woman falsely claimed to be a Marine Corps. veteran, then lied about having cancer to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.

"It never crossed my mind that somebody would do this," HunterSeven Foundation Executive Director Chelsey Simoni told WBZ-TV Tuesday. She was the person to notify the FBI that something wasn't right.

Thirty-one-year-old Sarah Jane Cavanaugh was arrested Monday and charged with forgery, wire fraud, and identity theft.

"We spoke for about an hour and hearing her story, I was heartbroken," said Simoni.

HunterSeven is a veteran-founded non-profit specializing in medical research focused on post-9/11 veterans. Simoni said the foundation was one of the veterans' groups Cavanaugh turned to.

"She had all the right stories, knew all the right words, all the right terms. When I asked her to explain to me what happened, she said to me I was in Afghanistan, I was the second vehicle in a convoy and we hit an IED that was buried on the side of the road. She said her lung cancer was a direct correlation from the particulate matter related to the IED blast, which is an extremely concerning, that's something that happens fairly often that gets overlooked," Simoni told WBZ.

According to prosecutors, Cavanaugh claimed she served as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2009-2016, rising to the rank of corporal. She claimed she developed lung cancer from inhaling the fumes of burn pits and explosives and was being treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Simoni said she and her team went to work trying to help Cavanaugh. They shared her story on social media.

"I don't think she realized how quickly it would gain traction," said Simoni.

Less than an hour after her story was posted, Simoni said veterans across the country began raising red flags about pictures of Cavanaugh with a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Prosecutors say Cavanaugh bought those awards online.

Prosecutors allege Cavanaugh knew the cracks in the system from her time as a social worker with the V.A.

She was released on $50,000 bond.