Judge Blasts 'Fraud' Psychic at Bail Hearing

By Tim Binnall

A psychic accused of participating in a swindling syndicate in Australia was blasted by a judge who called the self-proclaimed mystic "a liar and a fraud." Justice Julia Lonergan reportedly issued the strong rebuke to Maria Williams at a bail hearing on Friday. The psychic was arrested last year for what authorities say was a years-long operation wherein she, her sister, and her husband hoodwinked multiple people out of their money with promises of spiritual cleansing and curse removal. Williams' hopes of getting out of jail on bail were definitively dashed at Friday's hearing as the judge worried that the mystic would attempt to escape justice if she were released.

"She's a fraud and a liar," Justice Julia Lonergan explained in her decision to deny Williams bail, "that's the problem isn't it." The judge went on to offer something of a backhanded compliment to the purported psychic, who has been previously convicted of fraud, musing that the mystic is "a woman of substantial skill and ability and front in the arts of lying and manipulation." In light of these 'uncanny' abilities, Lonergan expressed "a real concern that the applicant will direct some of her energy to avoiding appearing in court."

Beyond the psychic's prior convictions, the judge's decision to deny Williams bail may have also been informed by a bizarre development that occurred following the mystic's arrest. According to police, shortly after the clairvoyant was taken into custody, they received a call from a man claiming to be a private investigator who had been working the case of the criminal syndicate. Billing himself the "king of the gypsies," Michael Sterio offered to join forces with the authorities to take the crooks down. However, it was later determined that the colorful character was Williams' uncle who was hoping to interfere with the investigation at the behest of his niece.

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