A Nevada mother admitted she fabricated a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in an attempt to make people “feel guilty and more inclined to love and be around her” — all while collecting more than $20,000 in donations that she spent on herself and her children.
Haleigh Knight pleaded guilty Monday in a Las Vegas courtroom to a felony theft charge, acknowledging that she lied about having cancer and created a fake fundraising page to scam thousands of dollars from multiple people. The scheme, which ran from June 2023 through April 2024, included taking money from several individuals, among them a longtime friend and breast cancer survivor, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Prosecutors said Knight’s own text messages revealed she admitted to impersonating different individuals and setting up GoFundMe accounts to sustain the false cancer story. Authorities said she used the money to cover bills and support her children.
One of Knight’s victims, her former high school classmate Cydney Fink, said Knight apologized for her actions and told her it felt like “she’s two different people and she can’t control it,” according to court documents obtained by KLAS.
“Haleigh said she faked having cancer so that Cydney and her family, along with Haleigh’s own family, would feel guilty and more inclined to love and be around her if she claimed she was sick,” the documents state.
Breast cancer survivor and victim Suzanne Duroy told KSNV she donated to Knight’s GoFundMe and was left “in shock” after discovering the diagnosis was false.
“I couldn’t believe it. I really could not believe it,” Duroy said, noting that she first met Knight in 2022 while they were working at a surgery center.
Duroy said she had moved to Florida to care for her mother when Knight’s sister contacted her about the supposed cancer diagnosis. As a survivor herself, she became her “chemo angel,” sending the con artist nearly $1,000 in gift cards and presents.
“It’s really not about the money for me. It’s just the principle — I felt heartbroken for her,” Duroy said.
Prostate cancer forms in the prostate gland, which plays an essential role in male reproductive function, according to the Mayo Clinic.
It ranks among the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men and is often highly treatable when caught early, though advanced cases can spread to other areas of the body.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among American men, taking about 35,000 lives in the US each year.
Another of Knight’s victims, Rachel Riedel, described the fraudster as a “sociopath” who “will scam you if she can touch you.”
“It infuriates me that she would take advantage of her community and her family,” Riedel told KSNV.
After pleading guilty, Knight agreed to pay $19,787.12 in restitution as part of her plea agreement, the Review-Journal reported.
If she pays the restitution and successfully completes probation along with other requirements, she will be allowed to withdraw her felony plea, plead guilty to misdemeanor theft, and receive credit for time served.
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