Criminals are getting creative to find ways to rip people off.
But one trick was so brazen it left the police stunned.
And a magical scam resulted in one Florida woman being thrown behind bars.
Florida tarot card reader promises to double a man’s money
A Florida man found himself the victim of a scheme to drain his bank account by a tarot card reader.
He told police that he found a flyer placed on his car promising tarot card readings.
The man called the number and reached a woman named Maria Rodriguez who offered a tarot card session for $20.
She was using a fake name according to the police and was actually 67-year-old Carmen Valdez De Miguel.
The man met with Valdez De Miguel at an apartment for the tarot card reading.
She told him after the reading that he needed a “deeper spiritual cleansing procedure” that would set him back between $600 and $700.
That did not set off any alarm bells for the man that he was being scammed.
He gave her a partial payment of $200 for his spiritual cleansing procedure.
Double your money with magic
The man returned to the apartment for the spiritual cleansing procedure with Valdez De Miguel.
She asked him how much money he had in his bank account during the procedure.
He told her that he had $8,000.
Valdez De Miguel told him to bring all of the money to his next spiritual cleansing session and she would be able to double it with a ritual.
The offer of having his money doubled with a ritual was too good to pass up for the naïve Florida man.
He brought $3,000 in cash with him to the apartment.
Valdez De Miguel placed the money in a Ziplock bag with eggs as part of her ritual.
“Upon opening the bag, the victim observed only broken eggs and worms moving inside, with no signs of the money,” the arrest report stated.
The man demanded his money back, but Valdez De Miguel said that she could not do that because she was not in the proper “state of mind” because the ritual was taxing on her.
She claimed that the money would be returned to him the next day.
The man contacted Valdez De Miguel several times about the money but she refused to hand it over.
“She asserted that the funds were part of a ritual and could not be released until the candles extinguished on their own, despite having previously assured the victim that his money would be returned the same day,” the police report said.
The police showed up at the apartment and arrested her where she tried to use another fake name.
She was arrested on charges of grand theft, organized scheme to defraud, and resisting arrest with violence.
Valdez De Miguel claimed she had no idea who the man was when police asked her about the money.
“OK, I had a chance to review this very interesting arrest affidavit, which also makes one realize you should never respond to a flyer left on your vehicle for tarot card readings ’cause you don’t know what’s gonna happen, especially when you’re asked to bring $3,000 in cash, put the money in a bag with some eggs,” Judge Mindy Glazer said. “This is bizarre.”
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
