A 61-year-old man has been charged in connection with a psychic mail fraud scheme that allegedly took more than $4 million from thousands of victims across the United States, many of them elderly and vulnerable, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Mael Chemla, who previously lived in Aventura, Florida, appeared in Miami federal court on November 2 on charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud.
How the scheme allegedly worked
Prosecutors said the letters appeared to come from psychics and told recipients they were about to receive a financial windfall but needed to send a payment first.
According to the Department of Justice, Chemla allegedly conspired with others to send letters to victims throughout the United States that appeared to be personalized communications from psychics. The letters falsely informed victims that the psychic had learned of an imminent financial windfall the victim was entitled to receive, and that the victim needed to send a payment in order to receive the financial windfall.
Money movement and timeframe
Chemla allegedly set up U.S. bank accounts under the names of the purported psychics, deposited victims' checks and wired the money to European accounts controlled by a co-conspirator.
Authorities allege Chemla and his co-conspirator collected the money from September 2016 through November 2020.
Extradition and potential penalty
Chemla, a U.S., French and Israeli national, was extradited from Germany before his court appearance.
If convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating the case.
