Madison Russo Wiki – Bio
Madison Russo 19-year-old Iowa woman was accused of defrauding hundreds of donors out of more than $37,000 by lying on TikTok and GoFundme about fighting pancreatic cancer and having a tumor “the size of a football,” the agency said. police.
In October 2022, 19-year-old Iowa college student Madison Russo opened up about the devastating cancer diagnosis she said she received eight months earlier. I feel like my soul has been shaken, and right now, everything is a little uncertain,” the Bettendorf resident told North Scott Press of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at such a young age. “I just want to know my game plan, and right now, I don’t know what it is.” Turns out it was all a lie, according to the Eldridge Police Department.
Russo allegedly used that lie to swindle nearly $38,000 from 439 unsuspecting donors in a GoFundMe account he created by falsely claiming he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, stage II pancreatic cancer, and a football-sized tumor that was wrapped around of its backbone, the Eldridge Police Department. She made videos on Tik Tok about her plight and was photographed with a dog wearing a purple “Team Maddie” scarf around her neck.
On January 23, Russo was arrested and charged with robbery by deception, a class C felony. She was arrested while in class at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, according to the statement. She was taken to the Scott County Jail, where she was held on a $10,000 cash bond, which she later posted. Locals and donors alike are shocked, especially since Russo had so convincingly shared her story on social media, in a podcast, as a guest speaker at St. Ambrose University and the National Pancreatic Foundation in Chicago and in a long interview with North Scott. Press, a newspaper covering Scott County, Iowa.
Madison Russo Age
Madison Russo is 19 years old.
Madison Russo 19 is charged with scamming donations by lying that she had cancer, Arrested
“Now I’m disgusted, not because of my $200, but because now I have to hesitate to help others,” an anonymous donor told WQAD. Telling North Scott Press that she was given an 11 percent five-year survival rate, she said she underwent the first of 15 rounds of oral chemotherapy and 90 rounds of radiation. Eleven percent,” she told the newspaper. “At 19, I don’t know if I’ll live to see the day I graduate from college, get married, or become a mom. In the meantime, I’ll fight. Russo told the newspaper that while she was undergoing his grueling treatments, she was still able to secure a “dream internship” with John Deere and finish the semester with a 3.85 GPA.
She even told the newspaper that she had gone to the Mayo Clinic for a consultation to “get another opinion. As Russo spoke publicly about her cancer diagnosis and posted it on social media, “witnesses who have medical expertise” thought something was wrong, according to the police statement. On January 11, those anonymous witnesses met with an investigating officer from the Eldridge Police Department and “pointed out many medical discrepancies found in their photos posted to their social media sites,” Police Chief Joseph Sisler said in the statement.
“It was discovered through investigation, that aside from the medical discrepancies, and the GoFundMe page, Madison accepted private donations from other businesses, non-profit organizations, school districts, and private citizens,” he continued. The names of the victims will not be released at this time as we are still trying to collect the information on all the victims, she said. During the investigation, subpoenas were obtained for medical records “showing that Madison had never been diagnosed with any type of cancer or tumor at any medical facility within the Quad Cities or surrounding cities,” she said in the statement.
Police executed a search warrant at Russo’s apartment in Bettendorf “where officers found items of probative value,” she said in the statement. “Because this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot discuss what was found. According to court documents obtained by KWQC, investigators seized medical supplies, bank records, an IV pole, a feeding pump, a wig, money, nausea pills prescribed in the name of a relative, and a 2023 Kia Sportage.
Thomas Bouland, who organized the GoFundMe, removed it, reports WQAD. He got Russo out of jail, according to court documents, reports WQAD. It’s unclear how Bouland and Russo know each other.
GoFundMe said it “has a zero-tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing. All donors have been reimbursed and we have removed this fundraiser. The recipient has also been prohibited from using the platform for future fundraising purposes. The GoFundMe Donation Guarantee offers a full refund in the rare event that something goes wrong – this is the first and only guarantee of donor protection in the fundraising industry.
It’s unclear if Russo has obtained an attorney who can comment on his behalf. Russo is scheduled to return to court on March 2 for his arraignment. Not all donors like Russo. My thought is, please pray for this little girl, because she will have a lot of terrible consequences as a result of this,” Louis Frillman, who donated $500 to GoFundMe, told WQAD. When he received the refund from her, he told the outlet, “I thought she passed away.”
Eldridge police are also asking those who donated to Russo’s fundraiser to contact the department at 563-285-3916 or email them at police@cityofeldridge.org.
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