Summary:
Two gambling Miami “fortune tellers” tricked a woman out of over $3 million by saying her money would have to be “spiritually cleansed” through a special healing ritual. According to the court documents, the victim was a financial advisor. The couple took a plea deal to avoid more serious charges of wire fraud and conspiracy, which could have sent them to prison for up to 20 years.
Two gambling Miami “fortune tellers” tricked a gullible victim out of more than $3 million by claiming her money was “cursed” and would have to be “spiritually cleansed” through a special healing ritual. According to court documents, the unnamed victim was a financial advisor.
Unbeknownst to the victim, the mysterious rite involved numerous high-stakes transactions at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, which is one way of “cleansing” money.
A federal judge sentenced Stevens and her husband to 30 and 32 months, respectively, for money-laundering. The couple took a plea deal to avoid more serious charges of wire fraud and conspiracy, which could have sent them to prison for up to 20 years.
It took $3.1 million to cross my palm
The court heard that Stevens was a psychic medium who was able to remove curses that were affecting her clients.
According to court documents, Stevens first met the victim in her psychic booth around 15 years ago, and she became a client.
Stevens told the victim that her problems could be explained by a curse that had been placed on her family because of their dirty fortune.
She warned that failure to provide more money would result in further misfortune for her family.
The victim told Stevens in 2016 that she had run out of money. She told the court that she needed to look after her mother. At this point, Stevens stopped communicating.
The victim spoke to her lawyer, who contacted the authorities. The two men were indicted by a federal grand jury in December of 2020.
There are religious rituals
Stevens argued in court that the ceremonies were an expression of her religion as a person of Romani heritage, citing her First Amendment rights.
The US Magistrate Judge was not buying it. The First Amendment is not a shield against committing a crime, and there were plenty of alternatives for Stevens to practice her religion without engaging in a scheme to defraud, as reported by Miami New Times.
He received a slightly longer sentence than his wife because of his criminal history, which included battery and drug offenses.
The pair were ordered to pay $3.2 million in compensation to the victim.