Hi everyone,
Here is an article about a mysterious woman called Maria Duval, a psychic, who is said to have committed a major fraud across the world.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/24/news/psychic-maria-duval-chapter-one/index.html*************
It's one of the world's longest-running cons. Hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from some of the world's most vulnerable people -- the sick, the elderly and the poor -- who all thought they had found a savior in a mysterious woman named Maria Duval.
It has claimed more than 60 times the number of victims of Madoff's Ponzi scheme. With millions of people affected from the United States to Japan, federal investigators say it would be hard to find another case of consumer fraud that has hurt more people.
Since the alleged mail fraud started around 20 years ago, a laundry list of government agencies across the globe -- including the U.S. Department of Justice, British authorities, Canadian fraud investigators and Australian consumer protection officials -- have attempted to put an end to the scheme.
But somehow, it has raged on for decades.
It all centers around a mysterious French psychic named Maria Duval. In letters, interviews and Internet videos seen around the globe, Duval says she has had visions of the world exploding and humans living in space. She claims to have successfully predicted election results, forecast winning lottery numbers and helped police investigate crimes. She says she even found the missing dog of movie star Brigitte Bardot.
And millions of people have been convinced by her "personalized" letters that she can help them, too.
While many recipients would simply dismiss these letters, the scheme's massive success stems from its ability to take advantage of emotionally and financially vulnerable people. Many of its victims are elderly, often suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. Others are lonely or depressed and are touched that someone is thinking of them.
Some say she is actually the brainchild of an elderly Argentinean man, or cooked up by someone in Singapore. Many are adamant she's a real person enjoying a luxurious retirement in the South of France, while others are convinced she is the creation of criminal cartels.
"It is unclear whether Maria Duval is a real person or a fictitious character," U.S. prosecutors said in court filings.
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Interesting.
Cheers.
Sriram
