Montco Woman Convicted Of Extorting Money From Cancer Foundation

ALLENTOWN, PA — A Montgomery County woman was one of two individuals convicted during a federal trial in the Lehigh Valley this week in connection with an extortion scheme involving a nonprofit organization.

Jude Denis, 54, of Wyncote, and Frances Marie Eddings, 68, of Orlando, Florida, were found guilty during a trial at the federal courthouse in Allentown this week.

The two women had been charged with conspiracy, unauthorized access of a computer, and aiding and abetting relating to what the federal government said was a scheme to extort money from the Philadelphia-based Prostate Cancer Foundation, where Denis previously worked.

According to prosecutors, the pair accessed internal documents obtained via unauthorized access to the nonprofit's computer system and threatened to release the documents publicly unless they were compensated.

Denis, who was hired by the Prostate Cancer Foundation in the summer of 2014, but who left her position shortly thereafter, reportedly accessed the organization's computer system after her departure and downloaded internal documents onto her laptop and then emailed the documents to Eddings.

Eddings then sent several emails to the foundation demanding a payment of $150,000 in lost wages for Denis plus a $37,500 payment for herself for acting on the other woman's behalf, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the case.

In the emails, Eddings threatened to release the internal documents to the public if her demands were not met.

When the demands were not met, Eddings sent a series of emails to the organization's board of directors, foundation donors, and members of the media, sharing her previous correspondence and attaching the internal documents, prosecutors stated.

"Cyber-intrusion is a threat to all types of businesses, including non-profits," U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in a statement. "Individuals who take advantage of a company's vulnerability like these defendants did shows how easily sensitive information can be compromised."

Jacqueline Maguire, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division, said that Denis had been looking for payback from the foundation for what she perceived to be its unfairness, and that her friend, Eddings, came along for the ride.

"Their short-sighted scheme has brought serious consequences, as evidenced by these convictions," Maguire stated. "The FBI is committed to tracking down and holding accountable cyber criminals, whatever their motivation for willfully breaking the law."

An article on the website Lehigh Valley Live states that Denis, who formerly resided in the Allentown area, had left her position as a fundraiser with the cancer charity a mere six days after she started her position.

The story says that Denis claimed she believed she was being hired by the foundation as a full-time employee after she left a job in New York City but was later told that she was an independent contractor, and would be paid accordingly, something that apparently did not sit well with Denis.