‘Psychic’ sentenced in $1 million scam
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A self-proclaimed psychic accused of conning a woman out of more than $1 million has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison, the Office of Statewide Prosecution reported.
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation revealed that Jaycee Wasso, of Massachusetts, approached an upset woman in a mall and convinced the new client that she was cursed. To get rid of the curse would cost $4,000, Wasso told the client.
FDLE said over ensuing weeks, Wasso pressured the woman into handing over more cash, and ultimately convinced the woman to marry a 75-year-old businessman from Tampa. Wasso then began extracting money from the husband by getting the client to provide fake excuses, like needing the money for her mother’s cancer treatment or father’s gambling debt.
According to the investigation, in December 2018, Wasso continued to manipulate and pressure the client, demanding $80,000 in cash from the client’s husband’s account to ward off evil spirits. For nearly a year after, the defendant lied, misrepresented and deceived the client’s husband, using the client to steal nearly $1.4 million in cash and jewelry, including a $50,000 Rolex watch.
Authorities discovered the criminal scheme when the so-called psychic’s client tried cashing a cashier’s check for $1 million at an Amscot location in Tampa. After failing to receive cash, an accomplice of Wasso eventually cashed the check at a check-cashing store in New Jersey.
A court found Wasso guilty of nine felony charges, including conspiracy to commit grand theft, organized fraud, grand theft and structuring financial transactions. Judge Michael S. Williams of the 13th Judicial Circuit sentenced Wasso to nine and a half years in prison, followed by 15 years probation.
Wasso’s associate, Lin Halfon, pleaded guilty to organized fraud and is awaiting sentencing. Wasso’s husband, Joey Evans, and father-in-law, John Evans Marino, face charges of conspiracy to commit grand theft and grand theft related to the cashing of the checks in New Jersey. They await trial later this year.
Content retrieved from: https://www.tbnweekly.com/pinellas_county/crime_crashes_fire/article_7dbbd154-f34f-11ed-9067-87845d83817e.html.
