A New York woman was arrested earlier this week on charges of defrauding military charities, the Department of Veterans Affairs and fraudulently claiming to have received a Purple Heart.
Sharon Toney-Finch, 43, of Newburgh was arrested on May 1, according to a Department of Justice release.
“ As alleged, Sharon Toney-Finch falsely claimed to have received a military award bestowed on those wounded or killed in the line of duty, and she used this lie to drive donations to her charitable organization, which in fact was a ruse the defendant allegedly used to line her own pockets,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in the release.
As alleged in public court filings and in an indictment, from at least July 2019 through about September 2023, Toney-Finch engaged in a scheme to defraud donors to her charitable organization by falsely claiming that donation funds would be spent solely to support homeless military veterans, when in fact she spent the funds on personal expenses.
Toney-Finch als falsely claimed that she survived and was injured in a terrorist attack to a vehicle convoy in Iraq in or about March 2010 and that she is a Purple Heart recipient, according to court filings.
From at least March 2016 through the present, she also knowingly obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability benefits from the VA by fraudulently representing that, during her military service in Iraq, she sustained combat-related injuries during a mortar attack in or about February 2010 and a vehicle rollover that occurred in or about March 2010, the release states.
Between about August 2021 through the present, Toney-Finch falsely claimed that she is a Purple Heart recipient in statements made to donors to her charitable organization, an application to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain a vanity license plate, and an application to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor to obtain a medallion and recognition on their website. She has also used, possessed, and exhibited a military discharge certificate that had been altered to reflect falsely that she is a Purple Heart recipient, according to court filings.
“The defendant’s alleged crimes are dishonorable to the highest degree, and I thank the career prosecutors of this Office and our law enforcement partners for bringing today’s charges and exposing Toney-Finch’s attempt to profit on stolen valor,” added Williams.
In May of 2023, Toney-Finch got a group of homeless men to pose as homeless veterans and claim they were kicked out of a hotel in upstate New York in favor of migrants.
Toney-Finch faces charges of wire fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; theft of government funds, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison; stolen valor, which carries a maximum potential sentence of one year in prison; and altering military discharge paperwork, which carries a maximum potential sentence of one year in prison.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com .
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