By Tim Binnall
A self-proclaimed fortune teller in California is in trouble with the law after he allegedly told a client that she was cursed and convinced her to hand over $50,000 to remove the hex. The wild story was recounted by the Riverside Police Department in a Facebook post last week. According to authorities, the scam began when the purported sorcerer informed his victim that she was possessed by "parasites," presumably of the psychic variety. Fortunately, for just a few hundred dollars, the man was able to eradicate the 'karmic pests.' However, he then 'regretfully' revealed to the woman that "she and her family were cursed and he needed more money to rid her of it."
It would appear that the fortune teller's warning struck fear in the heart of the woman as she ultimately wound up paying him a staggering $50,000 to set her free from the dark forces that had been set against her. At some point thereafter, that the client seems to have come to her senses and reported the case to police in Riverside. After a months-long investigation, cops finally arrested Andres Pena Meneses, who goes by the moniker 'Carlos,' this past Tuesday and charged him with grand theft and theft by false pretenses. While taking the fortune teller into custody, police searched the psychic's place of business and a rather bizarre scene unfolded in the process.
The department says that they recovered "a significant amount of cash, along with several items such as a voodoo doll, tarot cards, altars, religious and satanic type objects, and a small live snake." The reptile, they learned, was apparently an integral part of the fortune teller's act as, during the search, some of his other clients arrived at the business following his instructions to bring their mattresses with him. The customers told the cops that "Mr. Meneses and his staff would cut open the mattress and claim to have found the live snake inside with demonic type items and letters stating the victims' family was in danger."
As one may have surmised, the animal was not supernatural in nature and, instead, was merely the man's pet python that he slipped into the unsuspecting clients' mattresses by way of some sleight of hand. Since the fortune teller's arrest, police say that additional victims have come forward with similar tales of being taken for significant sums of money in exchange for cures for "ailments such as diabetes, headaches, sleep disorders, and nightmares." As for Meneses, he was not in jail for long as he managed to post bail which was set at, ironically, $57,000 or nearly the total amount taken from the 'cursed' woman who reported him to police.