Attorneys sift through claims in former city employee's cancer fraud case

Attorneys are sorting through fraud claims in the case of a former Chattanooga city employee accused of faking breast cancer to swindle the city and charitable organizations out of money and benefits.

Keele Maynor appeared briefly Tuesday morning in Hamilton County Criminal Court before being assigned another court appearance for Jan. 5. The former administrative assistant is charged with eight counts of theft and one of forgery after she allegedly faked breast cancer beginning in 2003.

She obtained at least $70,000 from the city in benefits and vacation time given to her by other employees, officials said shortly after her February arrest.

Attorney Stuart Brown, who represents Ms. Maynor, said he does not know how many claims of fraud are alleged against his client, but he thinks the total amount is less than $100,000.

"(The assistant district attorney) anticipates going through the claims and getting them to us by (January)," Mr. Brown said, adding that the district attorney's office has been cooperative in terms of sharing information.

"They're trying to get their hands around it just like we are," he said.

Mr. Brown said both Ms. Maynor and her husband are employed.

Ms. Maynor said nothing Tuesday while appearing before Judge Don Poole. After exiting the courtroom, she huddled with Mr. Brown and Public Defender Ardena Garth.

In July, the U.S. attorney's office dropped its federal case against Ms. Maynor, allowing the state to take the lead in prosecuting the case.

"The state of Tennessee is the victim in this case," Assistant U.S. Attorney John MacCoon told the Chattanooga Times Free Press at the time. "They're the ones that were directly defrauded, so it's understandable that they want to take the lead."