A Canadian man is facing prison time for his role in a bogus psychic scheme that duped millions of Americans.
Patrice Runner, 57, was found guilty on Friday, June 16 of stealing more than $175 million from victims in a decades-long mass-mailing conspiracy that frequently preyed on the defenceless, according to the US Department of Justice, and faces up to 280 years in prison.
Between 1994 and 2014, Runner, a dual Canadian and French citizen, sent millions of letters purporting to be from acclaimed psychic Maria Duval, who promised to bring people prosperity and happiness in exchange for money.
According to the Washington Post, one 2014 email claimed the recipient’s life will “take a turn for the better,” but they would have to pay $37.50 to find out more.
“All you have to do to see your life change is grasp the hand of friendship we are holding out to you,” said another email, “but that friendship started at $50.”
For scamming elderly Americans in a $175 million swindle, a Canadian man faces up to 280 years in jail.
The letters appeared to be personalised, with handwritten remarks and personal information about the recipients obtained reportedly from data brokers. The letters, however, were essentially identical and mass-produced, allowing the fraudsters to send out tens of thousands of them each week.
Runner and his associates preyed on the elderly suffering from dementia or the financially disadvantaged, which they discovered by renting and swapping mailing lists with other mail scammers.
It was discovered that those who fell for the scam and gave over money were frequently the elderly with dementia or those in financial need.
They were subsequently besieged with hundreds of “personalised” messages demanding more money to pay further services and guidance from Duval after they paid the first price. According to the DOJ, several victims lost thousands of dollars as a result of the scheme.
Investigators discovered that, while Duval is a genuine person, she was not involved in the deception.
None of the correspondences were sent or received by genuine persons, but were instead controlled by money-hungry conmen posing as Infogest Direct Marketing, a Montreal-based corporation, under Runner’s supervision.
Runner served as the scheme’s ring commander for the entire 20-year run and advised people in charge of day-to-day operations, according to the Post.
According to the article, he utilised hundreds of shell companies to try to hide his involvement and lived all over the world, including Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and Spain.
On an 18-count indictment, he was extradited from Spain to the United States in December 2020. On Friday, a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted him guilty on 14 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and other connected offences. Runner faces up to 20 years in prison for each offence, for a total of 280 years.
“For over 20 years, Patrice Runner oversaw a predatory scheme that targeted older Americans by mailing personalised letters purporting to be from a world-renowned psychic to millions of victims.” Mr. Runner should not have been surprised by the verdict,” said Inspector in Charge Chris Nielsen of the Postal Inspection Service’s Philadelphia Division.
