Staying with the story
The Springfield News-Sun was first to report on allegations that a woman faked cancer and benefited from fundraisers. We will continue to follow the story.
Co-workers who went to surprise a Clark County woman they thought was getting cancer treatment helped unravel the case against her, new court records revealed Friday.
Michelle Mundy, 38, of Green Twp., is suspected of lying that she had cancer and taking money from at least four fundraisers meant to help pay for her treatment.
Mundy pleaded not guilty Friday to a fifth-degree felony theft charge and to two first-degree misdemeanor theft charges in Clark County Municipal Court during her arraignment. While Mundy declined to comment, her attorney, Stephen Bogenschutz, told Judge Eugene Nevius that Mundy has cooperated with authorities and voluntarily turned herself in Thursday.
According to court documents obtained by the Springfield News-Sun, Mundy’s claim of having Lymphoma began to unravel April 25 when her co-workers at the Ohio Masonic Home in Springfield went to surprise Mundy at Greene Memorial Hospital, where she said she was receiving treatment. But, according to police, Mundy wasn’t there.
The next day, April 26, Mundy resigned from her position at the Ohio Masonic Home, and her employer reported to Springfield police that she had lied about having cancer and taken money from several fundraisers employees had on her behalf.
Mundy’s husband, South Vienna police officer Joseph “Matt” Mundy, has been on unpaid administrative leave since May 2. Sgt. Bryan Sullivan, acting police chief, said Matt Mundy will remain on leave until the case is concluded. South Vienna will then conduct its own internal investigation, he said.
Matt Mundy is not facing charges, and he did not attend his wife’s arraignment Friday. According to the court affidavit, he told police he did not know his wife didn’t have cancer. He took a polygraph test through his attorney, and the report stated “he was truthful in the answers that he did not know she did not have cancer and did not conspire with her to do fundraisers,” court records said.
Information about Michelle Mundy and her alleged battle with cancer vary, some stating she had Stage 3 and others stating Stage 4. One flier said she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in September 2012, eight years after her first battle with cancer, and her monthly treatments totaled $1,500.
Springfield police reportedly tracked money collected at four fundraisers for Mundy, in November 2012 as well as February, March and April of this year. Those totaled $5,750 in donations, according to police.
Mundy was interviewed by detectives with her attorney May 13. According to the court affidavit, she “confessed to lying about cancer and receiving the money from the fundraisers.”
She told detectives she deposited the checks into her bank account and put the cash into a dresser drawer for personal use. Michelle Mundy told officers “she was looking for the attention and had no idea that people would do fundraisers on her behalf,” the court affidavit said.
Wayne Fulgham, a former employee at the Ohio Masonic Home who worked with Michelle Mundy, said she was a “nice person (and) a good nurse,” so he was shocked to hear what she is accused of doing.
“I just hope she’s learned from it,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll have her opportunity to pay everybody back but (there’s) something else she’s lost— the trust and respect of people.”
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Monday, May 20, in Clark County Municipal Court. Michelle Mundy is out on her own recognizance. If convicted, she could face up to two years in prison.
About the Author