Police reports filed in Maricopa County Superior Court say 27-year-old Jami Lynn Toler told her former boss she needed a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction and was uninsured. She also told the tale to her mother and grandparents.
Toler helped organize fundraisers and collected more than $8,000 beginning in September, according to the report. Medical records obtained by Mesa police show she didn't have cancer and paid a plastic surgeon with the cash.
Toler was arrested Wednesday and released on electronic monitoring Thursday after a brief initial court appearance.
A telephone message left for Toler by The Associated Press on Friday wasn't immediately returned.
"They were just well-intentioned people standing by in support of an individual who needed it," Carmen Klemis, who runs the hospice where Toler used to work, told KTVK-TV.
Toler's story started to unravel when she turned down an offer from a doctor to treat her breast cancer for free and Klemis turned her in, Mesa police Sgt. Anthony Landato said.