Teh One Who Knocks
03-20-2013, 11:20 AM
By Paula McMahon, Sun Sentinel
http://i.imgur.com/uSl8oEU.jpg
Just one member of a Fort Lauderdale family of fortune tellers accused of operating a $25 million fraud is still planning to go to trial.
Rose Marks, 61, the alleged ringleader of the fraud, is scheduled to go to trial April 1 on charges she defrauded bestselling novelist Jude Deveraux. The trial date may be delayed if federal prosecutors add income tax fraud charges against her, as they have suggested they may do.
"Rose intends to go to trial," her attorney Fred Schwartz said Monday. He declined to comment on the potential tax charges.
Eight out of the nine charged members of the family have now pleaded guilty to their roles in the case — with three more of the fortune tellers pleading out in the past week.
Nancy Marks and Cynthia Miller, Rose Marks' daughters-in-law, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and Victoria Eli, Rose Marks' sister, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Nancy Marks and Miller, who worked in Broward County and Manhattan, admitted they each caused victims losses of between $1 million and $2.5 million.
Nancy Marks acknowledged she lied to customers "to obtain large sums of money." She told clients she could contact "spirit guides who would provide God-given directions," which included giving her money for cleansing to remove negativity or evil. She promised the money would be used in rituals or sacrifices, donated to charity or, in some cases, returned.
Miller admitted she also claimed to communicate with spirits or guides, including Michael the Archangel, and that she could remove curses and negativity from customers' lives. She also said money or valuables they gave her were not for her own use but would be burned, sacrificed or given to charity or a church.
One of her victims was a man who he said was hearing voices when he came to her psychic shop at 2000 E. Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. She asked if he was taking his medication, according to court records, but took gold coins from him and said his "lack of faith" was the problem. He later asked her to return almost $400,000 worth of gold coins, but she told him they "were buried in a cemetery and she could not remember where ... that only Michael the Archangel would know."
Eli, of Secaucus, N.J., and Broward County, also admitted causing a loss to her victims of between $70,000 and $120,000. She promised to return any money she received but only returned some cash when threatened with a lawsuit, court records show.
All three women must pay restitution to their victims, face a maximum of up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, though they will likely get much lesser punishments.
http://i.imgur.com/uSl8oEU.jpg
Just one member of a Fort Lauderdale family of fortune tellers accused of operating a $25 million fraud is still planning to go to trial.
Rose Marks, 61, the alleged ringleader of the fraud, is scheduled to go to trial April 1 on charges she defrauded bestselling novelist Jude Deveraux. The trial date may be delayed if federal prosecutors add income tax fraud charges against her, as they have suggested they may do.
"Rose intends to go to trial," her attorney Fred Schwartz said Monday. He declined to comment on the potential tax charges.
Eight out of the nine charged members of the family have now pleaded guilty to their roles in the case — with three more of the fortune tellers pleading out in the past week.
Nancy Marks and Cynthia Miller, Rose Marks' daughters-in-law, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and Victoria Eli, Rose Marks' sister, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Nancy Marks and Miller, who worked in Broward County and Manhattan, admitted they each caused victims losses of between $1 million and $2.5 million.
Nancy Marks acknowledged she lied to customers "to obtain large sums of money." She told clients she could contact "spirit guides who would provide God-given directions," which included giving her money for cleansing to remove negativity or evil. She promised the money would be used in rituals or sacrifices, donated to charity or, in some cases, returned.
Miller admitted she also claimed to communicate with spirits or guides, including Michael the Archangel, and that she could remove curses and negativity from customers' lives. She also said money or valuables they gave her were not for her own use but would be burned, sacrificed or given to charity or a church.
One of her victims was a man who he said was hearing voices when he came to her psychic shop at 2000 E. Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. She asked if he was taking his medication, according to court records, but took gold coins from him and said his "lack of faith" was the problem. He later asked her to return almost $400,000 worth of gold coins, but she told him they "were buried in a cemetery and she could not remember where ... that only Michael the Archangel would know."
Eli, of Secaucus, N.J., and Broward County, also admitted causing a loss to her victims of between $70,000 and $120,000. She promised to return any money she received but only returned some cash when threatened with a lawsuit, court records show.
All three women must pay restitution to their victims, face a maximum of up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, though they will likely get much lesser punishments.