Woman Arrested for Using $37K GoFundMe Funds for C...

Key Features:

• Police say a Pittsburgh-area resident raised greater than $40,000 on GoFundMe for her injured cousin however as an alternative used over $37,000 for private use.
• Investigators discovered a $6,200 cost tied to a Carnival Cruise Line voyage.
• The girl now faces expenses of theft by deception and receiving stolen property.

When a cousin was significantly injured in a bike crash, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania space resident Vanessa Lewis had good intentions of serving to. In August 2024, she arrange a GoFundMe marketing campaign to assist his restoration, drawing in additional than $40,000 in donations.

However investigators allege that the cash was by no means used for medical care. As an alternative, they are saying Lewis spent the funds on herself, together with a cruise.

The investigation started when the injured man’s father noticed pictures of Lewis posted on social media whereas she was on a cruise. He quickly found the account’s funds had dwindled and contacted the police.

The police report revealed the account had over $40,000 in August 2024, however by March 24, 2025, it had been lowered to simply over $3,000.

Authorities say Lewis allegedly withdrew or transferred greater than $37,000 from the account.

One of many largest bills they uncovered was a $6,200 cost tied to a Carnival Cruise Line ship crusing out of Miami. 

Whereas media reports the ship is “Carnival Parade” it might have been Carnival Paradise, which sailed from Tampa in 2024, or then-Miami-based ships like Carnival Horizon, Carnival Dawn, Carnival Magic, Carnival Conquest, or Carnival Celebration.

Police additionally discovered proof of a wire switch of greater than $21,000 to a different account.

In the meantime, the injured man’s household mentioned they by no means acquired any assist from the fundraiser.

Lewis, 29, is now dealing with expenses of theft by deception and receiving stolen property and was launched on $10,000 bail. Her first listening to will happen on September 16, 2025.

Based on Pennsylvania regulation, theft by deception if a felony of the third diploma is the worth is greater than $2,000. If discovered responsible, the penalty is as much as 7 years in jail and a high quality of as much as $15,000.

The penalty for receiving stolen property can also be a felony of the third diploma with the identical jail time and high quality relevant.

Misusing Funds for Cruises

Utilizing stolen funds to pay for cruises may sound just like the plot of a nasty film, nevertheless it occurs extra usually than one would assume.

Learn Additionally: Why I Cruise Year After Year – And Why You Will Too!

Simply final yr in Florida, investigators charged 51-year-old Melissa English, the previous church monetary secretary of Amelia Baptist Church, with embezzling greater than half one million {dollars} from her congregation between 2019 and 2024.

A few of that cash, prosecutors say, went towards cruise tickets, together with Airbnb leases and live performance tickets.

In Virginia, Shannel Peoples-Hilliard, who served as enterprise supervisor at a non-public college in Richmond, admitted to misusing practically a quarter-million {dollars} of college funds from 2021 via mid-2024. Amongst her private expenses? A Royal Caribbean cruise. 

She simply pleaded responsible within the case on September 4, 2025, and faces as much as 20 years in jail.

In June 2025, a 64-year-old woman embarking on a Norwegian Cruise Line Alaska cruise was additionally arrested for allegedly embezzling hundreds from a church in Wyoming.

Woman Arrested for Using $37K GoFundMe Funds for Cruise

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