A faux fortune teller in New York may have jail time in his future if found guilty of trying to scam a 68-year-old woman out of $62,000, investigators say.
The Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) states that the susceptible senior — whose name is being withheld by authorities — visited Hicksville’s Anjana Ji business, which offers psychic readings, and paid $20,000 to Hemanth Kumar Muneppa, 33, who allegedly claimed to have “power to fight evil spirits,” NBC News reports.
Lawmen say the so-called seer saw dollar signs when the gal willingly forked over the dough in hopes of banishing the demons she believed to be haunting her, tried to weasel an additional $42,000 from his mark — and even drove her to the bank.
The NCPD reveals that a suspicious Good Samaritan at the financial institution informed the woman she might be getting scammed and police were called for assistance.
Muneppa, a married father of two, was arrested in the bank’s parking lot and charged with third-degree grand larceny, third-degree attempted grand larceny and two misdemeanor counts of fortune telling. He has pleaded not guilty.
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According to New York State, a person is breaking the law “when, for a fee or compensation which he directly or indirectly solicits or receives, he claims or pretends to tell fortunes, or holds himself out as being able, by claimed or pretended use of occult powers, to answer questions or give advice on personal matters or to exorcise, influence or affect evil spirits or curses.”
However, there is an exception for such activities when they’re conducted solely for the purpose of entertainment.
“Playing with somebody’s feelings and giving them false hope, that’s really bad,” local business owner Mehwish Saeed told NBC News, adding that her daughter had also visited the shop and allegedly got suckered by false promises.
“They’re just making people a fool, so they deserve to be punished.”
