Boston man charged in terror fund fraud

He allegedly tried to claim money for an aunt who wasn't present at the bombing

Published July 3, 2013 1:47PM (EDT)

Boston bombing (Wikipedia)
Boston bombing (Wikipedia)

A Boston man has been charged with attempted larceny and identity theft for allegedly trying to rip off One Fund, the charity established to compensate victims of the Boston bombing. Branden Mattier was arrested this morning when he accepted a fake check worth more than $2 million. One Fund notified authorities when Mattier's application looked suspicious.

The Boston Globe reports:

Mattier attended a town meeting held at the Boston Public Library on May 7 and asked fund managers if his aunt would qualify for aid if she underwent amputations in the future, prosecutors said.

In June, Mattier allegedly sent the One Fund Boston a letter written by the chief of trauma services at Boston Medical Center confirming that Mattier’s aunt had undergone a double amputation.

The letter from the BMC was a forgery, prosecutors said. Mattier’s aunt, identified by prosecutors as Oneiva Bradley, was never treated at Boston Medical after the terror bombings that killed three and wounded more than 200, prosecutors said.

In fact, prosecutors said, Bradley died more than 10 years ago.

Mattier is being held on $30,000 cash bail, the Globe reported on Twitter.


By Alex Halperin

Alex Halperin is news editor at Salon. You can follow him on Twitter @alexhalperin.

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