By Tim Binnall
In a bizarre story out of Brazil, police say that a woman stole $139 million worth of artwork from her mother by way of an elaborate scheme involving a phony psychic. The wild case reportedly came to light on Wednesday when authorities in Rio de Janeiro announced that they had arrested a group of people who had worked together to pull off the strange heist. The plan was set into motion, cops say, when a person claiming to be a clairvoyant sought out the victim, who has a strongly held belief in the supernatural, and shared a worrisome 'vision' that her daughter was going to die.
After being informed of this troubling prognosis, the understandably distressed woman was led to believe that the psychic could prevent this from unfolding through a series of "spiritual treatments" which wound up costing nearly a million dollars. However, the psychic's warning was merely a ruse cooked up by the daughter in order to rob her mother and ultimately get her hands on her incredibly valuable art collection. To that end, seizing upon the distraction brought about by the faux psychic, she proceeded to dismiss all of the domestic help at her mother's house so that the proverbial coast was clear for the next stage of the plan.
The daughter and a group of fellow ne'er-do-wells proceeded to painstakingly remove 16 paintings from the residence with her mother apparently being none the wiser. The stolen pieces, which were ultimately recovered by police, featured a number of works by several celebrated Brazilian artists, such as Cicero Dias and Tarsila do Amaral, and has been valued at a staggering $139 million in total. It is uncertain how much jail time the gang may face, but when cops busted the group, the woman's daughter actually tried to escape through a window, suggesting that she didn't need a psychic to tell her that she's in a considerable amount of trouble.