A black fraudster who invented a son so he could claim compensation for his death in the Twin Towers attack is to be freed after serving less than half the maximum sentence

African-American Cyril Kendall, a 61-year-old father of 12, scandalized the United States when he took advantage of charities. In the largest 9/11 swindle, he was given $160,000 after producing a photograph of his fictitious dead son and a birth certificate. He took the American Red Cross for $119,000 and has failed to pay back a dime of the pilfered funds to date. Kendall was sentenced to 20 years in jail for grand larceny and fraud in August 20003. However, he has been approved for early release from the Fishkill Correctional Facility. The date has not yet been set. The parole board's decision was made on September 13, 2011 two days after the 10th anniversary of the terror attack which killed nearly 3,000 people. One of the funds he claimed money from was for grief counseling. Kendall claimed his youngest son, Wilfred, 29, was killed in the terror attacks while attending a job interview on the 91st floor of the north tower.