Woman busted faking cancer for abortion, conning veterans group
05/18/2016 4:38 pm PDT
Chalice Zeitner is a con artist who's just been convicted on 11 various counts, all for ripping off scores of people. Now more victims are coming out of the woodwork to say they were taken by Zeitner.
Angela Aduri was excited to have a baby, and picked Chalice Zeitner to be her surrogate.
"We met with her a couple times in person, we checked all her information out that she provided, with her Georgia driver's license, her medical insurance," said Aduri.
But there would be no bundle of joy. Crime Watch Daily Phoenix affiliate KNXV got a tip that Zeitner went by the alias "Al Serkez" on Facebook, using that fake name as signature on the surrogacy contract.
Aduri was devastated to learn Zeitner got arrested on fraud charges just days before the implantation was supposed to take place.
Zeitner even claimed she had cancer so she could get a late-term abortion -- paid for by the state of Arizona.
Zeitner allegedly conned a guy she met on Match.com. Prosecutors say she convinced him he's the father. Turns out she was already four months' pregnant with another guy's baby.
The 30-year-old Zeitner allegedly fleeced a foundation that helps U.S. military veterans.
"She's polished in the way that she speaks and how to push your buttons in the right way, say the right things that matter to you," said Mike Focareto, chief executive officer of Veteran Tickets Foundation.
It helped her allegedly rip off $10,000 from Veteran Tickets Foundation, reportedly promising that President Obama would come to a fundraiser. Court documents say she allegedly took the money and canceled the event.
"To me, I hate to say it, it's scum," said Focareto. "Why would you take that money, and what possibly could you need to do with that money that is more important then what we were trying to do?"
Chalice Zeitner pleaded not guilty to charges including two counts of money laundering and identity theft. She could face life in prison for her crimes.