Newtown Scam Arrest: FBI Arrest New York CIty Woman Nouel Alba For Posing As Victim's Relative [PHOTO]
A New York City woman who was running a Newtown Scam by posing as a relative of one of the children who died in the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, was arrested today.
The woman has been identified as Nouel Alba, 37 of the Bronx, according to the New York Post. She was arrested today and charged with lying to the FBI.
Federal prosecutors accuse her of seeking donations through Facebook, telephone calls and text messages. But Alba has denied running a scam.
According to the New York Post she denied receiving donations.
"I never sent any message on Facebook," she told NBC.
The woman denied to CNN that she took part in the scam but at the same time she told the network she had refunded all of the donations she received. The FBI says she returned the donations after she spoke to the press.
Alba reportedly posed as the aunt of 6-year-old Noah Pozner and asked money for the Pozner family directing people to send donations to an address in the Bronx, according to the Associated Press.
According to the FBI, she told one donor that she had to go to the elementary school to help identify little Noah's body, according to the criminal complaint.
She even mentioned that she met President Barack Obama before his speech at Newtown and when a donor texted her asking if she was watching Obama speak, she replied:
"No I'm sitting in my car," Alba responded, according to the document from the court. "Emotionally I can't deal with right now . . . tomorrow I'll see (Noah) in a casket and that will be hard enough to handle."
But Alexis Haller, the uncle of Noah, said Alba is not their relative and claims she never gave the family any of the funds she collected.
Alba was released Thursday on a $50,000 bond and could face up to five years in prison for lying to the FBI.
According to NBC New York, she hid her face as she left court today.
U.S. Attorney David Fein said her arrest was a warning for scammers.
"This arrest should serve as a warning to anyone who attempts to profit from this tragedy by contriving fraudulent schemes that exploit the many victims, their families and individuals who sincerely want to help," he said in a statement.
The Dec. 14 shootings have struck the entire nation. The gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, stormed an elementary school killing 20 children and six adults.