“‘Scamanda’: 6 things to know about Amanda Riley and new documentaries |”. Entertainment News

This is followed by another documentary about a woman who pretends to be sick Scamandawhich chronicles the life and lies of one Amanda Riley.

Riley is “a young wife, mother and devout Christian whose life suddenly takes a horrific turn when she is diagnosed with stage three blood cancer,” ABC News says in a press release about the documentary series, which will debut on ABC in 2025 will be available to stream on Hulu the next day).

However, this “terrible turn of events” was a terrible lie, and now, more than a dozen years later, Riley is serving a prison sentence. Read on for facts about her case and the new show that exposes her deception.

1. Amanda Riley is a mother and former school principal who faked cancer.

Than that San Francisco Chronicle Riley is reportedly a mother of two and was previously an elementary school principal in Gilroy, California, a city south of the Bay Area. In 2021, she pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with a seven-year ruse to solicit donations for a fake Hodgkin’s lymphoma case.

“Although she was not truly ill, Riley diligently maintained a social media presence using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a blog,” said a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California. “She used her presence on these websites to ‘document’ her non-existent medical condition and aggressively solicit donations, ostensibly to cover her medical costs.”

As part of the charade, Riley shaved her head, falsified records, forged letters from doctors and tricked family members into corroborating her story, the U.S. Attorney’s Office added.

2. Riley received hundreds of donations totaling over $100,000.

The matter began in 2019 when the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division and San Jose police uncovered Riley’s deception. And the government identified 349 individuals and organizations that donated a total of $105,513 to cover her alleged medical costs, money that Riley then used to support herself, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

3. She was sentenced to five years in prison – and had to pay more than $100,000 in restitution.

Riley pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in October 2021 and was sentenced to 60 months in prison the following May. Additionally, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman ordered Riley to pay $105,513 in restitution and undergo three years of supervision upon her release from prison.

“I will spend the rest of my life working toward reparation for the harm I have caused,” Riley said at the sentencing chronicle.

4. Prosecutors say Riley continues to fake illnesses in prison.

Riley was taken by ambulance to an emergency room 24 times during her first 18 months in prison after suffering from increased heart rate, chest pains, a laceration to her head and other medical problems, according to documents cited by the federal court chronicle.

But U.S. Attorney Michael Pitman said medical professionals saw Riley trying to manipulate test results. For example, Riley is said to have held his breath during an oxygen saturation test and intentionally contracted tachycardia. And prosecutors suspect Riley is still faking health problems even as she serves her prison sentence for her scheme.

“Perhaps not surprisingly … it is clear from the defendant’s medical records that she is, in fact, not suffering from any acute health problems at all,” Pitman said in his response to a motion for a sentence reduction.

In addition, prosecutors pointed out that four doctors and a nurse suspected or stated that Riley suffered from factitious disorder, also known as Munchausen syndrome, a mental disorder in which someone feigns illness and injury.

5. She tried to shorten her prison sentence.

In April 2024, Riley filed a motion to reduce her five-year sentence by more than half, seeking timely release – or, alternatively, to have her sentence reduced by 13 months chronicle added. Riley’s lawyers cited her emergency room visits and mental health issues, as well as diagnoses ranging from cardiac arrhythmias to sleep terrors.

But Judge Freeman denied the request. “Considering the number of victims (over 300), the fraudulent financial benefit of over $100,000 received by Ms. Riley, and her continued efforts to fake her grievances, the court is satisfied that 60 months in prison is currently the most appropriate just and appropriate punishment is “time.”

6. A successful podcast about Riley’s case is now a documentary.

On the Lionsgate Sound podcast Scamanda – in 11 episodes released between April and July 2023 – journalist Charlie Webster explores “this incredible and bizarre but all-too-real story of a woman from San Jose, California, whose secret tore a family apart and shocked a community.” ”

The podcast won two 2024 Webby Awards, both as a Webby Winner and a People’s Voice Winner in the Podcasts – Crime & Justice (Limited-Series & Specials) category. It was also ranked as the most popular new podcast of 2023 on Apple Podcasts diversity reported.

Now that podcast has been turned into a documentary of the same name with Webster as executive producer. Also on board as EP is investigative producer Nancy Mosciatello, who has been working on Riley’s story for five years.

“The series features new and exclusive interviews, including police officers and an IRS investigator who reported on the case, former friends of Amanda and a neuropsychologist who provides insight into the mind of a fraudster; Communication between Amanda and podcast host Charlie Webster; exclusive access to archive holdings; materials Moscatiello collected during her investigation and more,” an ABC press release said.

ScamandaSeries premiere, 2025, ABC

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