The Bronx woman accused of posing as the aunt of a Newtown shooting victim to solicit donations is no stranger to using tragedy for scam fodder—she also reportedly set up fraudulent Hurricane Sandy funds!
Nouel Alba, who was arrested after she allegedly lied to federal agents about soliciting donations to her personal PayPal account—donations she conned people into giving by claiming to be the aunt of Noah Pozner, a six-year-old Newtown shooting victim—is also accused of setting up Hurricane Sandy "relief funds" online and on Facebook that directed donors to her PayPal account or home address.
The groups, called the "NYC Hurricane Relief Fund" and "Operation Hurricane Sandy Relief," were proposed to be registered charities that would donate money, appliances, furniture and school supplies, among other items, for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Alba's home address was listed as a drop-off and donation center, and websites for the groups reportedly claimed all monetary donations went straight to the victims. None of the websites remain online.
Alba, who denies setting up a Newtown donation site and says she refunded the few donations she garnered through it, is out on $50,000 bail and accused of lying to federal agents.
