When a fraternity and a sorority helped raise money for a womanwith leukemia, they had no idea the money wasn't going to hermedical bills.
Former Ball State student Brookelyn K. Walters, 24, of Culver isexpected to turn herself in Thursday on three charges of fraud andtwo charges of theft, according to a statement from her lawyer.
Muncie police issued a warrant after Muncie prosecutors filedthe charges Tuesday. Walters' bond is set for $40,000.
Prosecutors claim she faked having cancer and being deaf since2000. She forged medical forms to convince the university,according to the Associated Press.
Rich Lentz, then vice president of Delta Chi, the fraternitythat raised the money, said a fellow classmate e-mailed him lastfall and asked him for donations for Walters.
Lentz said that after looking at Walters' Web site, heapproached his fraternity and the sorority Kappa Delta about usingthe proceeds from their annual hog roast to help Walters.
"The Web site was all out," Lentz said. "It even had the totaldollar amount of what it (the surgery) would cost."
The hog roast last October raised $1,000 to $1,500, which wasdeposited into a special account for Walters at Ball State CreditUnion, Lentz said.
"Here I thought we were going to do a really good thing forsomeone in the Ball State community and it would start a trend,"Lentz said. "She came across (in her e-mails) as really needy, andshe was really grateful to us."
Lentz never met Walters and only talked to her through e-mails.She was supposed to come to the hog roast, but she did not show up,he said.
According to the AP, university officials finally discoveredWalters' lie in May because of problems found in her formsrequesting an interpreter.
Walters is being charged for stealing the money from Kappa Deltaand Delta Chi and the fee for a Ball State interpreter, accordingto the AP.
Police officers advised Lentz that it was unlikely he would getthe money back because it had probably been spent, he said.
But Walters' lawyer said she returned the money, according tothe AP.
Lentz, however, said that, to his knowledge, the money has notbeen returned.
Lentz said he was shocked when he discovered in May that Waltersnever had cancer.
"It was like a punch in the face," Lentz said. "I just feltextremely disappointed."
The hardest part was telling his brothers, he said.
Mike Stumpe, a Delta Chi member, said he just found outThursday.
"I was disgusted that someone would take advantage of someone'sgood nature," Stumpe said.
Walters' attorney and Muncie prosecutors could not be reachedfor comment.���������������������������������������������������������������3���3���2$��I����g"�u�VP...--}",��a{u����i[����6%R��<YF�� @����c...�$����9�'>,|y"�~6N��aQ�Y]pAa�,=~�J���J"v��k����')�Z�'$�����*�--v��...'9� "OB.��'c)lp'~9<�:�N+<��*oz����iv
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