Looking Like These Two Should Be A Crime, Too

"A San Mateo woman pleaded no contest Friday to charges of swindling an elderly woman out of more than $80,000 during psychic and Tarot readings.

Janet Adams, 46, changed her December not-guilty plea after prosecutors said they were prepared to file charges on behalf of two more victims, San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

She now faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison and will pay restitution to all three victims, Wagstaffe said."

-- Jessica Bernstein-Wax, on what should happen to everyone claiming psychic powers - for just claiming to have psychic powers - because NewAge "spiritual" fraud is, still, good old fashioned fraud, to the San Jose Mercury News.

And good old Dan Noyes is on the case,...Way to go, Dan!!!

This Could Have All Been Predicted (TMR Did)

"A San Mateo woman who allegedly swindled a senior citizen out of more than $80,000 during psychic and Tarot readings could lose her business as soon today.

Carstens Realty, which manages retail units at the Laurelwood Shopping Center, has taped a notice to pay rent or quit to the door of 46-year-old Janet Adam's psychic and crystal vision shop.

The Dec. 24 document states that Adams and Lorraine Lewis, apparently a co-tenant, must vacate the tiny house-like structure in the shopping center's parking lot in three days if they don't pay $400 for December rent and $27 in common area expenses. Adams' rental agreement dates back to December 2006, according to the document.

...San Mateo police also had taped a search warrant to another window, and the previously tidy shop appeared to have been ransacked Friday morning. A pile of papers and objects littered the floor, and a holiday elf clad in red and green lay face down in front of the entrance."

-- Jessica Bernstein-Wax, on the further adventures of a "psychic" in touch with everyone's future but her own, for The San Jose mercury News.

Randi: Let's Get Physical With The Metaphysical

"We must wonder at how anyone with any degree of common sense can believe such utter nonsense, but let's look at the worst that these frauds can expect from the law. As with those who sell phony merchandise for years, come to the eventual attention of the state or federal authorities, and are convicted and put out of business, these con artists might pay a fine or serve short prison terms. Lisa Marie Miller was locked up for two months in exchange for $108,000 and a sports car. That sounds like a good rate of pay, I'd say. Will Adams or Marks get the same degree of penalty for their heartless scams? If so, what are WE doing, behaving ourselves and acting honestly toward others? The frauds - spoon-benders, fortune tellers, quacks, 'psychics,' 'healers' - are doing a lot better than most of us, and the present recession can only improve their fortunes as the grieving, desperate, elderly and naïve suckers continue to flock to be fleeced..."

-- James Randi, looking at the current ramping-up of "psychic" arrests - with light penalties compared to the crimes - and wondering why TMR should be as honest as the folks at James Randi Educational Foundation.

Oh: It's Not Wrong If A Psychic Does It, II

Well, well, well - another "psychic" story:

It looks like reports about Janet Adams, who ran San Mateo's Psychic and Crystal Vision shop, have brought others forward to say "Karma kicks you in the butt." (Really, that's what they're saying.) According to this latest San Jose Mercury News report, Dianna Czellecz says Adams got her for $1,000 and:

"None of Adams' predictions came true, and a candle she gave Czellecz to ward off evil spirits turned out to be a Glade strawberries and cream air freshener."

Yes, you know I love that! Say the word "psychic" and what TMR hears is "Class - all the way!"

And, speaking of San Francisco's South Bay - and "class" - is anybody looking into the "work" of Doti Boon ("The California Psychic") down there?

I'm just askin' because she and Corky Whitacre (great "scam name") have got that whole "Center For Creative Living" scam going on down there, and - as I found out the hard way - "Psychic readings with Doti are always very interesting!"

I wonder if Doti knows - since she told my ex-wife, Karine Brunck, she had "special powers" and to hook up with that Quack, Robert Wohlfahrt - that those two went on to kill three people? She must know: she's psychic!

Anyway, the beautiful Janet Adams (they're all beautiful) is now in San Mateo County jail on $500,000 bail, after already having "served two years for two felony convictions in 2004, and those cases involved swindling."

And, I bet you, she's another "psychic" who never saw prison time coming. But she will now,...

Beautiful (Husbands, I Mean)

"A San Mateo woman who advertised herself as a psychic has been arrested for allegedly bilking an 85-year-old woman of more than $80,000 by falsely claiming that both their husbands would die if the woman didn't hand over money, authorities said Friday.

Janet Adams, 42, was arrested Thursday night and is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at San Mateo County Jail.

Her alleged victim visited her Psychic and Crystal Vision shop in the Laurelwood Shopping Center in San Mateo 'on a lark' in January for a tarot reading, said Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County's chief deputy district attorney.

Adams persuaded her to make return trips, Wagstaffe said. On her third visit, Adams began to shake and cry, telling the woman that her husband would die of a heart attack if she didn't immediately pay $13,000 for 'special prayers,' the prosecutor said.

The woman promptly went to the bank and got the money, authorities said.

At the woman's next visit, Adams told her that her own husband was in the hospital and needed money for treatment or would die, Wagstaffe said. The woman gave her $9,000.

On subsequent visits, Adams made up stories about having to pay for her now-dead husband's funeral and for a son's medical treatments, Wagstaffe said.

In all, the woman handed over $80,330 to Adams, prosecutors said.

The alleged scam came to light when the woman's husband noticed that she was making large, regular withdrawals from their bank account. The woman told her husband what happened and they notified police.

Adams has victimized numerous women in San Mateo County in the past and was sent to state prison in 2004 for two years on a theft conviction, authorities said. At that time, Adams worked as a palm reader at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.

She was arraigned Friday on charges of theft from an elderly victim and an enhancement alleging the loss was more than $65,000.

Adams is the second purported psychic in recent weeks to run afoul of the law in the Bay Area.

In September, 27-year-old Lisa Marie Miller of San Francisco pleaded no contest to theft by false pretense in Santa Clara County for bilking a customer out of $108,000 and talking her into buying her a sports car in exchange for purifying her of evil spirits. She was sentenced Dec. 10 to two months in county jail."

-- Henry K. Lee, who's doing a damn good job of covering the psychic beat, for The San Francisco Chronicle.

Now if we can shine a light on Doti Boon,...