Investigators believe a fortune teller believed to be linked to a sophisticated Bulgarian organized crime network may have helped defraud a Catholic charity out of £51m after taking advantage of the “psychological fragility” of its finance director.
The scam came to light when criminals posing as Caritas executive Mark Crochet emptied 14 bank accounts opened in Spain, after having ordered the financial director of Caritas Luxembourg to make around 120 transfers of 500,000 euros in five months. .
Luxembourg prosecutors believe the plot was the work of a complex criminal organization. But to date, the only defendant in the case is the unnamed CFO, for having drafted false documents.
He allegedly entrusted sensitive details about the company to a “clairvoyant operating in Belgium” but based in Spain, telling the scammer about his professional challenges and the organization’s weaknesses before the information was passed on to a criminal group, according to local media. . information.
“He confides in his interlocutor secrets from his private and family life, he talks to him about his professional problems, the weaknesses of the organization and his mental load,” stated the Reporter newspaper.
Archive. A Belgium-based scammer is believed to have passed information to scammers in Bulgaria.
Archive. Investigators this week held their first special parliamentary committee into the scandal.
The criminals allegedly used information transmitted by the “fortune teller” to “take advantage” of her “psychological fragility” and the organization’s “weakness of governance” to steal 61 million euros over several months.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the latest allegations, linking the plot to a clairvoyant in Belgium.
They said earlier this month that the investigation was still working on the theory that a gang had impersonated the president to extract funds that, according to the current president, are equivalent to the entire annual budget of Caritas Luxembourg.
And a first special parliamentary committee on the scandal held its first meeting on Wednesday of this week.
Investigators believe that around 25 million euros have since been sent to China, 10 million to Hong Kong and eight million to Lithuania.
“Since the initial complaint was filed, investigators from the criminal investigation department, under the direction of the investigating judge, have been working closely with the Financial Intelligence Unit (CRF),” the office said.
“The ongoing investigation has identified more than 8,200 transactions, carried out in very short intervals, to hundreds of accounts opened in many countries around the world, which reinforces the presumption that a criminal association or organization is involved in this fraud” .
“So far, the investigating judge has sent about fifteen requests for mutual assistance to his foreign counterparts.
“The response of foreign authorities is crucial to the outcome of the investigations.”
Prosecutors are still unclear about whether any of the funds can be recovered, months after the scam first came to light in July.
Caritas Luxembourg first filed the complaint on July 16, prompting a full judicial investigation into a series of alleged crimes, including forgery, fraud, breach of trust and money laundering.
The matter took another turn when the former CFO turned herself in to police over the summer, the newspaper reported. Luxembourg Times.
She remains under investigation and is assisting with the ongoing investigation, the outlet reports.
Mark Crochet recognized the magnitude of the operation at the time.
Caritas CEO Mark Caritas acknowledged that the fraud was “very big”
Caritas Luxembourg lost the equivalent of its entire annual budget in the scam (headquarters pictured)
Caritas is a confederation of 162 aid, development and social service organisations.
It works in more than 200 countries and territories around the world to “end poverty, promote justice and restore dignity” through aid programs.
The group continues to help civilians caught in conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan.
This scandal is not the first time a fortune teller has been accused of scamming unwitting clients out of fortunes.
In 2011, prosecutors in a separate case said ten “psychic readers” in the US had defrauded several clients out of a total of $40 million by telling them they would be “bewitched” if they refused.
Jude Deveraux, author of 37 New York Times bestsellers, was reported to have donated $20 million to the group, according to sources with knowledge of the case.