VANESSA O’ROURKE
Vanessa O’Rourke (37) is currently wanted by the FBI after she defrauded people in a cancer fundraising scheme.
Vanessa was born on July 14, 1988. We don’t know too much about her life prior to this scheme except for that she lived in Harleysville, Pennsylvania at one point. She was married to a man named Michael Gulinello (he is from Massachusetts) but they split in 2010. Michael has spoken to the media about some events that occurred during their marriage, which raised red flags even back then.
“We were supposed to get married at some hall and had to put a $2,500 deposit down. Then she said she found out we couldn’t get married there and told me they said they could only give $1,200 back.
“The deposit was actually fully refundable. About a month later her mom got a car. I feel like that money was given to her mom.”
“I literally took out student loans to help out her college,” he said. “I thought I was being a good husband.”
“I had to go to court numerous times about the student loans because she never paid a penny back,” he said. “Even when we got divorced the court said my debt is her debt. It’s more than $100,000!”
Michael has cystic fibrosis and severe stomach problems. He said Vanessa did help him during their marriage.
“I have a lot of health issues, stomach issues. I had two major stomach surgeries. I was really sick for a two-to-three year span,” he said.
“She was really there for me. At that time I thought I was on my way out. Cystic fibrosis is a progressive lung disease.”
He told the media about how their marriage ended.
“She started to say she had a tumor on her gland,” he said. “I didn’t not believe her, but her not having proof made me feel [suspicious]. That’s when we had irreconcilable differences.
“I have paperwork for everything with cystic fibrosis so I know how that all works — it wasn’t adding up that she had nothing [from the hospital] to show for it.”
Michael said that Vanessa became fixated on traveling to Australia. She also spoke about needing to go there for life saving medical tests, despite not actually being sick.
“There was a student from Australia at her university and I thought she was cheating on me with him because of how fixated she was on it,” he recalled.
“She was really smart and had a good personality, but over the years lots of lies came out.
He said he now wonders if Vanessa was so caring towards him as she thought he may be dying and she would benefit financially.
“I have thought maybe she thought I wasn’t going to make it,” he said. “That she’d get some money, use me to co-sign [life insurance] and then I’d be dead.”
“She never did anything scandalous I can think of other than lying to me. She’d never did anything where I thought she’d become a criminal,” he said.
Vanessa began scheming around 2015. In October that year, she began to tell family and friends that she had terminal brain cancer – glioblastoma.
According to the Mayo Clinic:
Adult glioblastoma (also called glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM) is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. Even with modern treatment, the prognosis is generally poor, although outcomes vary significantly between individuals.
Typical survival statistics
Median survival: About 12–18 months after diagnosis with standard treatment (surgery when possible, followed by radiation and chemotherapy).
5-year survival: Roughly 5–7% overall.
10-year survival: Very rare, generally well under 3%.
She claimed at this time to be a medical student at Temple University and that she was studying to become a brain surgeon.
Vanessa began to crowdfund in order to raise money to travel to Australia. She said she needed to go there to receive experimental treatment.
She set up a GFM that raised almost $12,000 from 146 people.
Vanessa traveled to Australia in April 2016 for this ‘treatment.’ She entered the country on a visitor visa.
According to the FBI, whilst in Australia, Vanessa ‘ engaged in a variety of leisure activities and did not receive any medical treatment.”
Vanessa returned back to the US.
In June 2016, a ‘beef and beer’ fundraiser was held for Vanessa at a restaurant in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Local businesses were asked to provide items to auction. Attendees paid both an entrance fee and money to bid on the auction items.
In July 2016, Vanessa returned to Australia, and again did not receive any medical treatment. She was still on her visitor visa and stayed in the country illegally. She claimed to be a doctor in verbal and written communications and got a job with a private medical company in Queensland.
By May 2018, law enforcement had cottoned on to Vanessa’s scheme. On May 3, a federal grand jury indicted her on 15 counts of wire fraud and an arrest warrant was issued. By this time, Vanessa had fled to Australia.
“The allegations in this case are nauseating,” U.S. Attorney William McSwain said. “O’Rourke is charged with preying upon the kindness and generosity of good people who wished to help those in need. As alleged, there was no need here – only lies, greed and callous manipulation.”
In August 2019, Vanessa was placed in immigrant detention in Australia. There is very little information about this online, due to Australia’s strict laws but nothing appears to have happened in terms of extradition etc related to this case.
Australia and the US do have an extradition treaty:
What is not publicly known is whether:
The United States formally sought her extradition.
Australia rejected an extradition request.
Immigration proceedings took priority over extradition.
Authorities were unable to locate her or establish her status.
In September 2020, the case was publicly unsealed and the FBI made their first public appeal for information.
Vanessa called her ex-husband Michael for help that year.
“She somehow got a hold of me. She called and asked me if I could send her proof we got divorced because her mom can’t do it,” he told The Post, noting he’d changed his number since he and O’Rourke parted in 2010.
“I said no — she was already wanted.”
Vanessa told Michael that she needed the proof so that she could return to the US.
Media reports indicate that Vanessa has been sighted in Queensland as recently as the end of May 2026.
“The allegations in this case are nauseating,” U.S. Attorney William McSwain said. “O’Rourke is charged with preying upon the kindness and generosity of good people who wished to help those in need. As alleged, there was no need here – only lies, greed and callous manipulation.”
US authorities have urged anyone with information about O’Rourke’s whereabouts to contact the FBI or the nearest American embassy or consulate.
Vanessa has used the aliases Vanessa Gulinello and Cecila Vincent Gaeta Lazaro.
She is described by the FBI as being 5’7 and weighing 170lbs.
TARA ENOKA
Tara Enoka is a mother of four from Perth, Western Australia. She was said to be an amateur boxer/kickboxer. Tara had a partner named Xavier Willis. Xavier’s previous partner had passed away from cancer four years before he met Tara. He is the father of Tara’s two youngest children.
In March 2021, Tara claimed that she had been diagnosed with both breast cancer and cervical cancer.
She created the ‘Stand with Tara’ social media channels. She would regularly post videos giving updates on her illness.
“My whole life I’ve never been the type of person that’s ever asked anybody for help, and in the last couple of weeks, I’ve learned it’s okay to ask for help,” she said in the video.
“We are fundraising, we are raising the money to help pay for the treatments that I need to potentially save my life, so that I can be here for my kids to watch them grow up.”
Tara raised more than $37,000 (Aus Dollars) through a GFM. Xavier helped with the campaign and they even got retired American bodybuilder and four time Mr Olympia Jay Cutler to share their story. He has 5.8m followers on Instagram.
Xavier trained Tara’s clients during her ‘sickness’ and also cared for all of the children while she claimed to be in hospital.
There was no single documented event that led to Tara’s scheme being discovered. Between 2021 and 2023, questions about her claims were raised and complaints were made to the Western Australian police. They began an investigation. Tara was said to have traveled to Thailand to fight in a kickboxing event, which no doubt did not help her cause.
In 2024, Tara was charged with gaining benefit by fraud. Her partner Xavier spoke about finding out that she had been lying to him.
‘The manipulative measures that Tara went to were completely extreme. From fake treatment plans to telling me she was on chemo and blood transfusions, even making me pick up the children from the hospital.’
In January 2025, Tara pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of possession of stolen or unlawfully obtained property rather than proceeding on the original fraud charge.
She appeared in court in May 2025. The matter ended up being adjourned after the court heard that Tara was unsure how to comply with orders relating to repayment of the stolen funds.
Magistrate Raelene Johnston said the matter was serious, and warned Tara that imprisonment was a possibility.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail or a fine of $24,000.
A GoFundMe spokesperson said the organisation was aware of the matter at this time, and all donors had been refunded.
“GoFundMe has a zero tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with police investigations of those charged with wrongdoing,” the spokesperson said.
“All donors to the fundraiser in question were refunded in June 2024, under GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee, after charges were laid against the beneficiary.”
In September 2025, Tara was sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment with 11 months suspended, meaning she was required to serve approximately 2 months in custody. The magistrate reportedly described the conduct as deliberate and highly deceptive.
He also made a post on Instagram for his daughter’s fifth birthday where he said that his children were his ‘reason to keep fighting. Sadly your mother was jailed yesterday for faking cancer. Evil acts such as fraud, blackmail and corruption have torn our family apart.’
MICHELLE BODZSAR
Michelle Bodszar claimed that her young son had cancer and multiple tumours in order to get donations. Michelle also went to extra lengths in an attempt to make her story believable.
You can find the name of Michelle’s son online but it has been legally suppressed by the court to protect his privacy so we will not name him.
Michelle lived with her husband Ben Miller in the Adelaide suburb of West Lakes. The couple are reported to have two children together. Michelle was said to be working as a hairdresser.
According to AAP News, during the pandemic, Michelle developed a gambling addiction. She was also diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
In September 2024, Michelle’s 6 y/o son suffered an eye injury following an accident on a trampoline. The child was taken to an ophthalmologist who cleared him of any permanent injury.
Michelle took this as her chance to begin her scheme. She told Ben that their child had cancer. She said that scans had revealed there were three tumours on his optic nerve and that he would require eight rounds of radiotherapy.
Michelle shaved the child’s head and eyebrows, used bandages, an eye patch, a wheelchair and gave him unnecessary medications to make his illness appear real.
She also wrote on social media that the child had Stage 1 eye cancer.
“Three tumours … on and around the optic nerve,” she wrote.
“I look at you with sadness in my eyes and heart.
“It’s unbearable for daddy and mummy to see you go through this. Your blues no longer shine but an emptiness in a world you have not been in long.”
Their community began fundraising for Michelle and her family. Donations totalling between $11,500 and $22,000 (Aus) were collected. This amount differs between various court documents that would later be filed as well as in different media reports. Thenightly.com.au reported that the family had collected $60,000 in two weeks. According to nine.com.au, Michelle had transferred more than $5,000 to her account for daily living and had received thousands of dollars of cash donations.
In November 2024, an investigation was launched in partnership with the Department of Child Protection, the child’s school and CPS.
By December 2024, police had identified inconsistencies in Michelle’s story.
Both Michelle and her husband Ben were arrested and charged with criminal neglect and deception. Authorities said they operated a ‘devious and cruel scheme.’
Authorities confirmed that the child was not receiving treatment and police called it a “farce illness”.
The couple’s two children were removed from the care of their parents and placed with a nominated carer following concern for their psychological health. Police said that the 6 y/o believed he had cancer and was seriously unwell.
The prosecutor told the court their children are “young, vulnerable and the safety of the alleged complainant is paramount”.
Magistrate Alison Adair said a prosecution submission that the chance that Michelle might impede the police investigation was a “valid concern”
Ben was also held at this point. The magistrate said “Having read the allegations, it appears this defendant is less involved than the other offender and in the circumstances, I’m prepared to consider home detention bail.”
Police spoke after the arrests.
“The child is away from the parents, so that’s an important thing.”
“I couldn’t think of a more devious and cruel scheme that the parents have done to their own child,” Commissioner DeCandia said.
“It’s abhorrent that people would seek to profit for their own personal greed and selfishness, from such an insidious condition like cancer that affects so many families.”
They also said they were freezing the couple’s bank accounts and attempting to recover funds for people who had donated.
In early 2025, the charges against Ben were dropped after it was determined that he had been deceived by Michelle. Michelle was charged with 72 offenses by this point.
In October 2025, Michelle reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. She pleaded guilty to 10 counts of deception and 1 count of conduct likely to cause harm to her son.
Sentencing proceedings took place between November 2025 and April 2026. The court heard victim impact statements from family members and also heard about emotional harm and detriment that were suffered by the children.
In April 2026, Michelle was sentenced by Judge Geraldine Davison to 4 years, 3 months and 20 days in prison. She will be eligible for parole after serving 2 years and 4 months.
The judge said that she refused to accept that gambling and financial difficulties were the root cause of the crimes.
“You attribute much of the root cause of this offending to financial difficulties, saying that you felt you were living beyond your means and needed to provide for your family with the latest fashions,” Judge Davison said.
“I do not accept that … your offending is far more cruel and manipulative … It was designed as an attention-seeking device.”
The harm caused to her son was perpetrated on a daily basis by giving him pseudo medication and forcing him to take it “even when he clearly did not want to”, the judge said.
“It is a form of child maltreatment and child abuse.”
Ben spoke and said “no sentence will ever justify what was done to my children”.
He was initially arrested but had “absolutely no idea what was going on”, the judge said.
“Your crimes have resulted in him losing his job, his career, and being unable to get work because he was on home detention, and no contact with his children for almost seven months,” she said to Michelle.
Their son was now “angry and sad for no apparent reason” and their daughter was anxious about being abandoned and has been deeply affected, the judge said.
SOURCE LIST
https://www.inquirer.com/crime/gofundme-scam-cancer-vanessa-orourke-australia-20200908.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/vanessa-orourke-fbi-wanted-australia-gofundme
https://aapnews.aap.com.au/news/cruel-attention-seeking-fake-cancer-mum-jailed
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/sa/2026/04/29/michelle-bodzsar-cancer-son
https://7news.com.au/news/adelaide-mum-pleads-guilty-over-sons-fake-cancer-scam-c-20372280