A woman was arrested for crowdfunding to pay for vet bills for a dog that was already dead

• A woman in Japan has been arrested on attempted fraud charges for fundraising for a dead dog.
• The police say Kanna Sudo, 26, raised $16,000 for her dog between October and December.

A 26-year-old Japanese woman was arrested and charged with fundraising some $16,000 in medical bills for a dog that had already died.

Kanna Sudo, 26, was arrested on January 13 and charged with attempted fraud, per Japanese news outlet Yomiuri Shimbun. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Sudo, who is unemployed, confessed to the Nara prefectural police department this week that she put up an appeal for funds to recoup the medical fees for a dog that had already died.

According to Asahi News, Sudo's dog died in August. However, Sudo made at least three updates on social media between October 29 and December 13 last year, claiming that she was still holding on to hope that her dog would pull through, and seeking more donations.

Sudo admitted to carrying out the scam to earn enough money to cover the costs of her dog's vet bills before it died. The fraud was only brought to light in January after an anonymous tipster alerted the local police, per the Mainichi Shimbun.

Insider viewed the Readyfor crowdfunding page for Sudo's dog, a retriever called "Toi-kun." On the page, Sudo claimed that Toi was suffering from a critical heart problem. She also posted images of the pup and scans of its medical reports.

"Toi has a severe heart disease," Sudo wrote. "I don't want to give up because I don't have enough money."

"Of course, all the support we received during the rest of the recruitment period will be used for Toi's medical expenses. If the treatment costs listed above do not exceed the amount you have supported, we will use the remainder for future vet examinations and medicines for Toi," Sudo added in the crowdfunding post.

The fundraiser offered people several donation tiers, with the lowest being 500 Japanese yen ($4.30) and the highest tier being 500,000 Japanese yen ($4,367).

At press time, the fundraiser had been backed by 407 people in the amount of 1,844,500 Japanese yen (or $16,112). However, the fundraiser has been canceled and is no longer accepting new donations.

Readyfor did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on whether the donors will be refunded.