Page 63 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Vol 24 No 2 - February 24 2015

Is Medium Theresa Caputo A Fraud?
How do we know the Long
Island Medium is a fraud?
Because all mediums are
frauds!
By Stephen Silver
It appears questions are beginning to be raised
about the veracity of the clairvoyant claims of
Theresa Caputo, the star of the TLC reality
show Long Island Medium.
Radar Online reported last week,
“exclusively,” that “many viewers, audience
members and even a private investigator believe
Caputo’s ‘gift’ is a “total hoax.'” Even some
longtime fans of Caputo, the report says, are
jumping ship.
There are, let’s be clear, some problems
with the Radar Online story. That a reality show
is staged or fake is not exactly shocking at this
point, much less one about a person who claims
the ability to communicate with the dead. That
some people watching a reality show about an
obvious charlatan don’t believe she’s on the
level is not news at all- nor, for that matter, is it support network," Assistant U.S. Attorney
“exclusive.”
Furthermore, the “private investigator”
quoted in the story is a guy, Ron Tebo of
SciFake.com, who seems to make a full time job
of calling Caputo a fraud and making silly,
sound-effect-laden YouTube videos about it.
And the headline “Theresa Caputo Subject Of
Fraud Investigation,” is not in any way backed
up by the story itself, unless we’re talking about
the private investigator’s own “investigation.”
The phrase “fraud investigation” tends to imply
that a law enforcement entity is investigating
Caputo with an eye towards bringing criminal
charges, something which is not stated in the
story.
But all that said… of course the Long
Island Medium is a fraud! Because EVERY
psychic and medium is a fraud. It’s not like
there’s some fraternity of “legitimate” or “on
the level” psychics, of whose standards Caputo
falls short. There is not. It is a discipline and
profession absolutely no different from con
artistry. These people are liars and scammers,
dedicated to taking advantage of vulnerable,
grieving people.
uman beings do not possess the ability to
speak to or communicate with the dead. They
just don’t. Everyone claiming that they can is a
grifter, fame-driven, or both. That people like
Caputo and John Edward were able to parlay
her particular grift into big-time fame just
shows that they’re better at this particular hustle
than most others. But it doesn’t mean they’re
honest people. They are, obviously, not. And it
doesn’t take an “exclusive” news story- most
people have pretty much figured it out on their
own.
Psychic Gets 8 Years For
Decade-Long Con Of Timber
Heir
PORTLAND, Ore. — A psychic who used an
elaborate con to steal $15 million from the heir
to an Oregon timber fortune was sentenced
Thursday to more than eight years in federal
prison.
As part of the fraud, Rachel Lee got her
daughter, Porsha Lee, to pretend to be a British
woman named Mary Marks. Only 17 at the
time, Porsha Lee donned a blond wig, wore
heavy makeup and faked a British accent. Lee
and her daughter later duped Ralph Raines Jr.
into believing he and Marks were married and
had a son named Giorgio Armani.
Acting as Raines' wife, the daughter
negotiated the sale of properties totaling
millions of dollars, with the money going into
bank accounts controlled by Rachel Lee.
"The major damage to the victim in this
case is 10 years of believing that he had a
Donna Maddux said. "'Ten years of believing he
had a friend; more than five years of believing
that he had a wife and he had a child. All of
which was an absolute fabrication."
Raines, 67, has a keen interest in the
paranormal. He met Rachel Lee in 2004 at her
psychic shop in Bend, Oregon.
Rachel Lee and Raines stayed in touch
after the meeting, with Raines divulging
personal information about his life, including
that he lived and worked at a sprawling tree
farm developed by his father west of Portland.
The two became friends and Raines started
giving Lee money, and also bought her a
$915,000 home in Portland's West Hills.
The scheme deepened after Ralph
Raines Sr. suffered a stroke in 2006, leaving the
son with two issues he was ill-equipped to
handle: operating the financial end of the tree
farm and providing care for a man in declining
health.
Rachel Lee falsely told Raines Jr. that
she was a widow who had cared for her dying
husband. That qualification led Raines to hire
her at $9,000 a month to care for his father.
"I said I'd like to pay the going rate, but I don't taking advantage Raines and involving her
know what it is," Raines said.
Rachel Lee quickly gained control of the
family's financial and business affairs, and
started siphoning money.
In 2007, Porsha Lee, in the character of
Mary Marks, had a "chance" encounter with
Raines at the Portland airport. She intrigued
Raines with her psychic-like ability and
presented herself as a traveling bookkeeper —
the perfect person to help with the tree farm
business.
The Lees later fooled Raines into
thinking he had married Mary Marks and had a
child with her.
Federal prosecutors said the women
concocted the pregnancy angle because Porsha
Lee was really pregnant at the time. When the
real father took the baby away, another daughter
of Rachel Lee allowed her son to play the role
of Giorgio.
Porsha Lee, who is awaiting sentencing,
maintained the character for seven years before
the scheme collapsed last year. Raines continues
to wear the ring from the sham marriage and
doesn't realize that Mary Marks was a character
played by Lee's daughter. He said Marks
returned to England last year and he hasn't heard
from her since.
"Who are you married to?" U.S. District
Court Judge Robert E. Jones asked Raines.
"Well, I thought I was married to a
person named Mary Marks," Raines said. "I
don't know where she's at."
Though the Mary Marks persona was a
fake, it's the name of Rachel Lee's mother. By
using a real person's name, the Lees were able
to open bank accounts in the joint name of Mary
Marks and Porsha Lee. The real Mary Marks
told investigators she opened the accounts at the
request of her granddaughter.
Rachel Lee and others connected to the
con used the ill-gotten gains to splurge on
travel, jewelry, real estate, designer clothes and
luxury cars.
According to the sentencing memo, by
the time of the arrests, little remained of the
once vast Raines estate. Rachel Lee left Raines
with about $205,000 in bank accounts. No
money remained in his investment accounts.
Rachel Lee, 44, tearfully apologized for
children.
The judge gave Rachel Lee credit for
sparing Raines from a trial, but sided more
closely with the prosecution's request for a nine-
year sentence.
"This is a tragic, tragic case brought
about by evil, evil-doing," Jones said. "This was
a massive fraud — a mean, personal fraud that
lasted for a decade." []