A French heiress was swindled out of her multimillion-dollar fortune by her “stepmother” who was helped by a witch doctor, a French court heard.
Cléophée Herrmann, 34, had inherited more than £9million through her family’s former textile empire but had been convinced to spend tens of thousands on a sorcerer and fortune teller to speak to her dead mother.
The court heard how the expense had left her so destitute that she was forced to work in a kebab shop in Colmar, France, to earn money for her two-year-old son.
Her stepmother Josianne Seiler was found guilty of “taking advantage” of Mrs Herrmann and sentenced to 30 months in prison and to pay her €5.1 million, as well as €50,000 in damages.
While his two daughters, Mathilde Hickel, 33, and Julia Hickel, 40, were sentenced to a year’s suspended prison sentence for handling stolen goods and abuse of weakness, and ordered to pay Herrmann 320,000 euros.
Cléophée Herrmann (right), 34, had inherited more than £9million through her family’s former textile empire, but was persuaded to spend tens of thousands of pounds on a sorcerer and fortune teller to speak to her mother dead
The Colmar court heard that when the grandmother died, Mrs Seiler took advantage of Mrs Herrmann’s “emotional void” to impose herself on the woman’s life as a quasi-mother.
The Colmar court heard that when the grandmother died, Mrs Seiler took advantage of Mrs Herrmann’s “emotional void” to impose herself on the woman’s life as a quasi-mother.
He introduced his grieving stepdaughter to a fortune teller capable of locating her deceased mother “on the other side” and to a North African sorcerer.
During these sessions, the stepmother ordered Ms Herrmann to leave envelopes of cash in her letterbox before each session, and the sums quickly increased from €1,000 (£833) to €10,000 (£8,330) and finally €50,000 (£41,650).
The witch and fortune teller told the police that they only received a few hundred euros of that money.
Mrs. Herrmann attributed her clumsiness to the fact that she had no notion of the value of money, since she had always been educated with everything paid for.
The prosecution said that he was in a state of total “vulnerability” after the death of his two guardians.
Afterwards, Mrs. Herrmann said: “This is revenge and a relief.” It’s been a long time coming. I wanted justice to be done. “I will be able to move forward for my son and in honor of my family who is watching me up there.”
Mrs. Herrmann is the granddaughter of Fritz Schlumpf, who made his fortune in worsted wool before the Second World War together with his brother Hans.
Both men were obsessed with cars and used most of their money to create a massive collection, consisting of 580 vehicles, including 123 Bugattis and 14 Rolls Royce.
However, the couple were later convicted of fraud and embezzlement and forced to flee into exile in Switzerland, where they later died.