A woman involved with a group of suspected fraudsters posing as psychics will remain behind bars as police warn against giving money to people who claim to have supernatural powers.
British national Tina Montana, 47, was arrested in Punchbowl, south-west of Sydney, on Wednesday as New South Wales police seized hordes of items linked to the allegedly fake readings operation.
The items allegedly seized included a crystal ball, divination cards and small ancient statues.
Two other people known to the woman have previously been charged in connection with the scheme, which police say has been operating across Sydney since 2006.
Police allege that members of the syndicate pretended to be psychics in a scheme to defraud their victims of money and other property.
Montana, a dual British-Australian national, was charged with 13 offences, including seven counts of identity theft, after being accused of using multiple stolen identities to create phone accounts.
One of his three money laundering charges concerned a 2018 event in which he allegedly purchased a $54,000 gold bar and smuggled it into England.
Montana’s sister and her partner face several charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception, and Montana is accused of being part of their criminal group.
Detective Inspector Craig Brooks accused the group of attacking their victims for financial gain.
Tina Montana, 47, was arrested Wednesday on charges of 13 alleged bizarre crimes
The alleged crimes include identity theft and fraud, after five months of investigations
“The police will allege that the syndicate claimed to be psychic and during that process with the victims they encouraged them to provide them with property and money, which they had obviously kept,” he said.
“(They have not returned it), failing to meet what victims would have expected when engaging with these services…these matters have caused significant financial and emotional distress.”
Detectives have been investigating so-called psychics since July.
When asked about allegations that the defendants were taking money to “spiritually cleanse”, Inspector Brooks confirmed that possibility would form part of the investigation.
In the operation, police also seized statues, divination cards and a crystal ball from a home.
Strike Force Recycling, set up to investigate a series of alleged frauds, swooped on the property in Punchbowl.
“Clearly, if anyone is asked to provide money to a psychic for any service, I strongly urge them not to do so,” he said.
Montana was refused bail at Bankstown Local Court on Wednesday, with Magistrate Glenn Walsh finding no special circumstances to grant his release.
After arresting the other two alleged offenders in early November, police raided a storage unit in Chatswood, on Sydney’s lower north shore.
Items they confiscated included antique statues and a sword, a crystal ball and collectors’ memorabilia from World War II.