Nouel Alba
COVERUP: Nouel Alba (above) hides her face yesterday as she leaves a Hartford, Conn., court amid allegations she pretended to be the aunt of Noah Pozner (inset bottom) to collect funds for his funeral. (
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A soulless Bronx grifter posed as the aunt of 6-year-old Newtown massacre victim Noah Pozner in a twisted scam to collect bogus-charity donations, the feds charged yesterday.
Nouel Alba, 36, even told prospective donors that she had to enter Sandy Hook Elementary School after the bloodbath and identify her “nephew” for police — and said the child had “11 gun shots in his little body.”
Noah was the youngest of 20 first-graders murdered in the Dec. 14 rampage, which also killed six educators. His family has said Alba is no relation.
Alba allegedly sent out her first calls for cash within hours of the shooting.
The next day, she said in an online posting that a funeral fund had been set up “for my brother and families,” according to the complaint in Hartford federal court.
She used Facebook, the phone and texts to solicit donations, and asked that they be sent via her personal PayPal account or direct bank deposit, the complaint charges.
Alba allegedly claimed in a text to one mark that she met President Obama with other family members and he “hugged us even cried [sic] with us.”
Several people were duped into giving donations, the complaint says, although she refunded them before her arrest. Alba was charged with lying to federal agents and released on a $50,000 bond.
She has denied setting up the Newtown donation sites and claims she was framed by Facebook enemies, the feds said.
“I thought it was a really rotten thing to do and I am glad she got caught,” said Rabbi Shaul Praver of Congregation Adath Israel of Newton, a friend of the Pozner family.
The alleged scam isn’t the first time Alba has sought donations after a tragedy, The Post found.
Just days after Hurricane Sandy, she set up Facebook pages, Web sites and blogs seeking money for storm victims.
Donors were asked to send funds to PayPal accounts bearing her name and e-mail address, or to her Clason Point home.
One “charity’’ — the NYC Hurricane Relief Fund — provided a tax-ID number that does not appear in state or IRS record databases.
Alba also set up an Amazon “wish list” for donated items to go to a second group, Operation Hurricane Sandy Relief for Teachers and Students, and again listed her Gmail address.
Both sites have been dismantled, but cached versions remain online.
Outside Alba’s Bronx home last night, neighbors described her as a devoted mother of two and said they were shocked by the charges.
Additional reporting by Frank Rosario and Doug Auer