Dec. 12 — One person is charged with stealing money donated to a fireman's widow. Then there's the woman who was arrested because she allegedly conned a charity with a phony sob story. And one man allegedly collected almost $300,000 for the death of his wife — who is very much alive. abcnews.com:

Amid the countless acts of heroism during and after the Sept. 11 attacks, stories about anti-heroes are emerging. And while the number of cases is still small, it's growing. One case that's got New York City firefighters angry is that of Brian Lynch. He's charged with burglary and grand larceny for allegedly ripping off thousands of dollars donated to the widow of one of their fallen colleagues. "[It's like] the old saying, 'taking food out of a baby's mouth,' " said one discouraged fireman, Evan King. "I mean that's the worst possible thing that a person can do." Carl Asaro was one of the hero firemen who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The father of five children, he was honored recently at a memorial service in Middletown, N.Y. The local firehouse raised $8,000 from the community to help his wife Heloisa and the children get by. A Family 'Friend' Came to Console Widow Following Carl's death, Heloisa says Lynch, her next-door neighbor and a family friend, dropped by frequently to console her. But one day, she says, he seemed most interested in knowing where she had put the money the community donated. Trusting him, she told Lynch that it was hidden in an envelope in her bureau drawer. The following day while she was out, police say the unemployed Lynch went into her house and stole the money. Lynch denies it. But police say a passing neighbor saw him in the house. And after the robbery, New York State Police investigator John Ramos says Lynch "was noted purchasing certain money orders at the post office," paid for with new $100 bills — the same type of bills that were in Heloisa Asaro's envelope. Lynch is also charged with scamming the Red Cross for $650. He allegedly lied on a Red Cross application for aid, say investigators, when he claimed he was in the World Trade Center to begin work for Cantor Fitzgerald. They say there's no evidence he had a job at the firm. "You don't take a tragedy like this and steal from somebody," said King. "It's despicable, despicable is the only thing I can say." Woman Allegedly Took Dead Friend's Credit Card Despicable also describes what Sandra Miranda is accused of doing. She's charged with forgery, grand larceny and possession of stolen property. Miranda's friend Laura Gilly had given up her career as a flight attendant for what she thought was a more secure job with Cantor Fitzgerald at the World Trade Center. Gilly was killed on Sept. 11. Her father, Joe Gilly, says the very next day Miranda made the first of several visits to the family's apartment to console them, and asked to spend time in Laura's place two floors up. "Every time she came she always wanted to go up and say a prayer and light a candle. By herself, not with me there," says Joe Gilly. While Miranda was alone in Laura Gilly's apartment, she stole her dead friend's credit card and later went on a shopping spree, police say. Miranda denies she took the card. But a saleswoman at one gift store says it was Miranda who charged $1,600 worth of porcelain statues to Laura Gilly's credit card, forging her signature. At other stores, police say she charged hundreds of dollars worth of clothing and a $2,000 diamond bracelet. Now Miranda's arrest has deepened the Gilly family's tragedy. "Me and my wife and son … we don't need something like this," said the distraught father. "The loss of my daughter is enough. Not credit card baloney. I don't need that." Couple Took Insurance Payouts of Nearly $300,000 Then there's the case of Charles and Cynthia Gavett, a Georgia couple charged with insurance fraud. He allegedly claimed his wife was killed at the World Trade Center and received insurance payouts totaling almost $300,000. "The people are saying Sept. 11 was a great tragedy," said Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxydine. "The insurance company is going to be in a hurry to pay the claims. They're going to have a lot of claims. They won't check up on you." But they did later check, and learned Mrs. Gavett wasn't dead. She'd been seen after Sept. 11 by many people, including a sheriff's deputy who had Thanksgiving dinner with the Gavetts. The couple has pleaded not guilty to charges in the case. In another case, Roxanna Freeman Anderson is charged with forgery and grand larceny after a national radio show broadcast her tragic tale of losing two sisters and her brother — a police officer — in the World Trade Center attacks. A charity official delivered a $2,000 check to her home and posed for a picture with all the children she claimed to be now taking care of. But then her alleged scheme began to unravel. Anderson's ex-husband, L.P. Anderson, heard about her story on the radio and suspected she was up to no good. In fact, he says her brother is a cab driver, not a cop. And her siblings, he says, are all alive and well. The prosecutor on the case also notes that some of the children who posed for the picture with the charity representative were allegedly borrowed from her neighbor. Ms. Anderson has since pleaded not guilty. "These cases not only have to be taken seriously, but aggressively prosecuted," says Westchester, N.Y., District Attorney Jeanine Piro. She predicts that those charged with exploiting the Sept. 11 attacks will likely find little sympathy from judges and juries. "We came together as Americans and as a society. We gave our all to help those people who and the family of those who were victimized at the World Trade Center," says Piro. "To think that there are those people who undeservedly and illegally want to take a part of that money away from orphans and widows is absolutely outrageous. Its more than that, it's criminal." Arnold Diaz joined ABCNEWS' 20/20 in 1995, after establishing his reputation as one of the leading consumer and investigative reporters in the country during his 22 years at WCBS-TV in New York City.

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