View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2013/07/08/297718.htm
A Boston man who allegedly submitted a $2 million claim to The One Fund Boston on behalf of his dead aunt was arraigned on July 3, according to authorities.
Branden Mattier, 22, of the South End, was arrested at his home on July 2 when an undercover state trooper presented him with a simulated check made out for $2.195 million.
He was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court and he pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted larceny over $250 and identity theft. The next hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 2.
In June, The One Fund Boston referred the matter to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office after it suspected that the claim submitted by Mattier on behalf of his aunt, Onevia Bradley, was false.
The investigation revealed that on May 7, Mattier attended a Town Hall meeting at the Boston Public Library on behalf of his supposedly injured aunt, and followed-up on May 29 by sending an email to The One Fund asking if his aunt could make a claim as a double amputee if the amputation was expected to be performed in the future.
In June, The One Fund received Mattier’s claim form along with a letter allegedly from the chief of trauma services at the Boston Medical Center affirming his aunt as a double amputee.
According to officials at the Boston Medical Center, Mattier’s aunt never received treatment at the hospital in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing nor did the letter originate from the trauma center. The investigation further revealed through public records that Onevia Bradley had actually died more than 10 years earlier.
As part of the investigation, Mattier allegedly signed for a letter July 1 informing him that his aunt had been awarded $2.195 million from The One Fund Boston. The letter informed Mattier that he would receive the check by courier on July 2. State police arrested Mattier after delivering the simulated check.
The One Fund Boston was formed to assist victims and families affected by the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013 and in the days that followed. The fund has so far raised more than $62 million for the victims and the families.
Source: Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office