Ashley Kirilow

Ashley Anne Kirilow (born 1987) is a Canadian woman who raised money to aid cancer patients while pretending to have cancer herself. When Kirilow's fraud was made public, her story was republished around the world.

Since her case became public, Kirilow's fraud has been cited as a cautionary example of the dangers posed by online fund-raising campaigns.

Medical condition
In 2008 or 2009, Kirilow discovered a lump in her breast.

According to the Toronto Sun, psychotherapist Marc Feldman, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama, suggested the kind of lies Kirilow told were often a sign an individual was manifesting Münchausen Syndrome by internet.

Kirilow was one of the examples of a mentally ill suspect offered in the textbook Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis.

When she was sentenced, in April 2011, as part of his explanation for her relatively lenient sentence, Justice Fred Forsyth noted how young her biological parents were when she was born.

Legal status
Kirilow was charged with several counts of fraud with one count of fraud of over $5,000. Kirilow and her supporters report receiving death threats.

In November 2010, Kirilow pled guilty to defrauding Donna Michalowski, a woman who had raised almost $7,400 for Kirilow. She surrendered to the police on August 6, 2010.

Kirilow appeared several times in bail court during her first weeks in custody. Newspapers quoted former friends who explained that no one would post bail for her because everyone felt hurt and angry. Kirilow's father explained that he had considered posting her bail, but had decided that she had lied too many times. On August 20, 2011, a recognizance of $5,000 was pledged, and she was released on bail with supervision by the John Howard Society.

Kirilow's conditional sentence
The Winnipeg Free Press reported that Kirilow received a conditional sentence, no jail time.

Kirilow was sentenced to 10 months of house arrest, followed by five months where she would have a curfew.

October 2011 shoplifting conviction
Kirilow was arrested by a grocery store security guard on October 7, 2011 for attempting to steal $11 worth of cold medicine. She pleaded guilty two weeks later to theft under $5,000. She was sentenced to one further day in jail. Kirilow was still serving her conditional sentence from her fraud conviction when she stole from the grocery store.

On November 10, 2011, she received an additional 30 days in jail for breaching terms of her conditional sentence. Both the Toronto Sun and The Hamilton Spectator speculated that Kirilow's last conviction was a sign that underlying mental health issues were not being addressed.

Second accusation of parole violations
The Hamilton Spectator and CHCH TV reported that Kirilow appeared in court on February 8, 2012, for a second breach of her parole conditions.

On March 2, 2012, The Hamilton Spectator confirmed that her conditional sentence had been revoked.

Fundraising activities
Kirilow's Facebook page described a charity she said she set up, entitled Change for the Cure. Kirilow appeared at benefit concerts, organized on her behalf. Kirilow visited children in hospital receiving cancer treatment.

Commentators speculated about the effect her Facebook fraud would have on other charities' online donations.

On October 13, 2010, Linda Nguyen reported on the efforts to raise funds for experimental treatment for Alexis Wronzberg, a young Toronto area woman who has a rare form of Leukemia.

Kirilow has offered the explanation that she pretended to have cancer in order to make her family pay for an unhappy childhood. Kirilow's parents divorced when she was young.

In addition to the funds she solicited, she accepted a vacation at Disneyworld from a charity that sponsored visits to the resort from those who were at risk of dying. Skateboard personality Rob Dyer's organization Skate4Cancer financed Kirilow's trip to Disneyworld.

Case information
According to reports, Kirilow was working as a receptionist at the Sutton Group Results Realty Inc. office in September 2008. She later revealed to her co-workers that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Hence, Michalowski organized a fundraiser in February 2009 at the Burlington bar Club 54. The fundraiser collected $7000.

Kirilow is also accused of further raising thousands of dollars for her own benefit through a charity called "Change for the Cure" on Facebook. She had supposedly created the charity to fund cancer research. Kirilow told Toronto Star that she had lied about being terminally ill.

Kirilow was released under the supervision of the John Howard Society.

Kirilow faced three additional charges of fraud under $5,000 at her November 1 appearance. She pleaded guilty to the one charge of fraud over $599. After her court appearance, while trying to explain the scrutiny which the Kirilow's case triggered, the lawyer said:

"It's the perfect storm. You've got social networking ... you've got an insidious disease, which almost everyone in our society is touched with. When you put all those factors together there's a public outcry."

Kirilow mentioned in the context of similar frauds
On November 5, 2010, the week that Kirilow pleaded guilty, Ontario Police announced the arrest of Jessica Ann Leeder, a 21-year-old Huntsville, Ontario woman, who is also accused of using Facebook to solicit funds to treat a non-existent cancer.

In December 2011, Maclean's magazine listed Kirilow in a year-end summary article subtitled, "From Norway gunman Anders Behring Breivik to cancer fraudster Ashley Kirilow: portraits of evil".

In 2012 and 2013, her case was compared with that of 29-year-old Calgary resident Kristopher Nicholas Cook, who falsely claimed to have brain cancer.

In 2013, Kirilow's case was compared with that of 35-year-old mother of three LeAnn Gorchinsky-Gripper, who falsely claimed she had ovarian cancer.