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The fraudster known in Spain as the "man with the 2,000 tumors"
Photo:
Europa Press / dpa
A Spaniard who faked 2,000 tumors and thus sneaked donations of 264,780 euros has to go to prison for two years.
His defense attorney and the public prosecutor's office reached an agreement in Madrid, according to the Europa Press news agency.
The man had previously confessed that the prosecution's allegations were true.
The 50-year-old, who actually suffers from a rare hereditary disease that cannot cause malignant tumors, had claimed for years on television, on the Internet and at public events since 2010 that he had up to 2,000 tumors and might die soon.
He urgently needs financial help for experimental treatment.
The man even founded a non-profit organization for research into his disease, called Cowden Syndrome, and proclaimed himself its president.
A book about him has also been published.
Arrival by cruise ship
He urgently needed money for treatment in the USA for his rare disease, he repeatedly asserted on television appearances and on social media.
Many people felt sorry for the simulant, who looked like a patient in chemotherapy with his bald head, and donated money, including celebrities from culture and sports.
In fact, he was treated for free in a hospital near where he lived in Valencia and his life was never in danger, wrote Europa Press.
The tumors diagnosed with him are benign and do not endanger life.
According to media reports, he traveled to the United States several times, but only received one free treatment there.
Another time he traveled on a cruise ship.
Otherwise he spent the money collected on luxury goods.
The fraud was finally discovered in 2017 and the allegedly terminally ill was arrested.
His girlfriend at the time is also charged with fraud.
Her lawyer emphasized, however, that she had believed her boyfriend that he was terminally ill and helped him in good faith.
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apr / dpa
