A TEEN faked a brain tumour to scam some of the world’s top pop stars out of hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund dream Disney trips.
Megan Bhari founded the charity Believe in Magic to help “other” terminally ill children aged 17 in 2012 before she died in 2018.
An inquest later recorded she died of heart failure related to a fatty liver but there was no mention of a tumour on her medical records, reports The Times.
Her charity – which was backed by One Direction, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran – was dissolved last week after a probe found nearly £400,000 missing from its books.
Other stars including Jessie J, Pharrell Williams, Taylor Swift, Little Mix and Olly Murs also supported its fundraising efforts over the years.
Bhari travelled on a private jet and luxury liners and stayed at Disney resorts when she was “having treatment” in the US, say reports.
One Direction and its loyal fans raised a fortune to help her as she appealed for “life-saving” funds.
At the time, doctors were concerned about her frequent visits to hospital – which apparently found nothing seriously wrong.
In January 2015, One Direction helped the then teen to raise £120,000 for radon therapy amid claims she had developed a second tumour.
Group member Louis Tomlinson reportedly made a huge personal donation to the fund.
That same year David Cameron presented her with a special award in recognition of her work as an “outstanding volunteer”.
However, the parents of other kids with cancer became concerned about the teen’s accounts of her illness and started to investigate.
Wigan woman Joanne Ashcroft noticed the fundraising appeals for her treatment were lacking in actual detail.
She told The Times: “I spoke to other oncology parents close to me who felt the same.
“Our own children had been through the most horrific disease and treatments imaginable, there was just something in the words that didn’t ring true.”
They hired a private investigator who found out Bhari had been staying at Florida’s Walt Disney World.
The Charity Commission later launched an investigation into Believe in Magic before freezing its accounts following “multiple complaints.”
It found huge withdrawals of £133,000 had been made in the year to November 2015 and £156,000 was taken out the next year.
The Commission found the charity’s trustees had collectively failed to file its accounts amounting to “misconduct and/or mismanagement.”
Police did investigate the complaints but said that there was insufficient evidence to take the matter any further.
The charity was shut down last week with any remaining funds being passed onto the Round Table Children’s Wish.
Bhari’s mother Jean O’Brien, 66, one of the charity’s trustees, also agreed not to be a trustee or hold a senior management position at a charity for five years.
Last week, she addressed the Commission’s decision to close the charity and allegations her daughter had faked her illness.
She wrote on Facebook: “No one on this earth could have loved Meg more than me. I did everything I could to make her life as wonderful, as happy and as comfortable as it could be.
“The charity grew so quickly and although Meg and I worked tirelessly I take full responsibility for the less than perfect admin and record keeping.
“I am not ashamed to say I have been driven to the brink by these completely untrue and devastating allegations.”
