GEIS-新闻详情

Scammer claimed to be a psychic, witch and Irish heiress, victims say as she faces extradition to UK

2024-03-27 00:00:00.0 独立报-英国新闻原网页

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She has traveled America saying she's an Irish heiress, a psychic and good friends with a movie star in order to run scores of scams, her victims say.

But now Marianne Smyth is in a Maine jail awaiting a hearing next month that will decide whether she can be sent back to the United Kingdom over a scam dating back more than 15 years in Northern Ireland.

The 54-year-old American is accused of stealing more than $170,000 from at least five victims from 2008 to 2010 in Northern Ireland, where a court issued arrest warrants for her in 2021, according to legal documents. She was located and arrested last month in Maine.

Her case has similarities to Anna Sorokin, a grifter convicted in New York of paying for a lavish lifestyle by impersonating a wealthy German heiress.

“She’s a master of disguise completely changing her appearance and her grift to suit each mark,” said Johnathan Walton, who started a podcast in 2021, “Queen of the Con,” to warn others about her after he said he was fleeced out of nearly $100,000. She was always dressed in designer clothes, but said she needed the money for things like a frozen bank account and to post bail, he said. She told him she was due an inheritance of $7 million from her wealthy family in Ireland, Walton said.

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They grew close over several years in Los Angeles, when she bought him expensive dinners and luxury vacations, he said. But her story began to unravel when Walton realized she was jailed for stealing $200,000 from a luxury travel agency where she worked. She was later convicted of stealing from him and briefly served time in prison.

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