They didn't see that coming! Fortune teller 'helped scammers take £51million from Catholic charity'

A luck teller believed to beryllium linked to a blase Bulgarian organised crime web whitethorn person helped con a Catholic kindness retired of £51million aft preying connected nan 'psychological fragility' of its financial director, investigators believe.

The scam came to ray erstwhile criminals posing arsenic Caritas executive Mark Crochet emptied 14 slope accounts group up successful Spain, having ordered Caritas Luxembourg's financial main to make immoderate 120 transfers of €500,000 complete 5 months.

The nationalist prosecutor's agency successful Luxembourg believes nan crippled was nan activity of a analyzable criminal organisation. But to date, nan only personification charged successful nan lawsuit is nan unnamed financial director, for having drawn up mendacious documents.

She is alleged to person confided delicate specifications astir nan institution to a 'clairvoyant operating successful Belgium' but headquartered successful Spain, telling nan scammer astir her master challenges and nan organisation's weaknesses earlier nan accusation was passed connected to a crime group, section media reports.

'She confides to her interlocutor nan secrets astir her backstage and family life and talks astir her master problems, nan weaknesses of nan organisation, her intelligence load,' news outlet Reporter claimed.

The criminals allegedly utilized accusation passed connected by nan 'fortune teller' to return 'advantage' of her 'psychological fragility' and nan organisation's 'weakness of governance' to pilfer €61million complete a play of respective months.

The nationalist prosecutor's agency has declined to remark connected nan latest allegations, linking nan crippled to a clairvoyant successful Belgium.

They said earlier this period nan investigation was still moving connected nan mentation that a pack had posed arsenic nan president to extract costs nan existent president says amounts to Caritas Luxembourg's full yearly budget.

And a first typical parliamentary committee connected nan ungraded held its first gathering connected Wednesday this week. 

Investigators judge astir 25 cardinal euros person since been sent to China, 10 cardinal to Hong Kong and 8 cardinal to Lithuania.

“Since nan first title was lodged, investigators from nan criminal investigation department, nether nan guidance of nan investigating judge, person been moving intimately pinch nan Financial Intelligence Unit (CRF),” nan agency said.

“The ongoing investigation has identified much than 8,200 transactions, carried retired astatine very short intervals, to hundreds of accounts opened successful a multitude of countries astir nan world, reinforcing nan presumption that a criminal relation aliases statement is progressive successful this fraud.”

“At this stage, immoderate 15 requests for communal assistance person been sent by nan investigating judge to his overseas counterparts. 

'The overseas authorities’ consequence is important to nan result of nan investigations.”

It is still unclear to prosecutors whether immoderate of nan costs tin beryllium recouped, months aft nan scam first came to ray successful July.

Caritas Luxembourg first revenge nan title connected July 16, prompting a afloat judicial investigation into a number of suspected crimes including forgery, fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering.

The matter took different move erstwhile nan erstwhile main financial serviceman handed herself into constabulary complete nan summer, reported by the Luxembourg Times.

She remains nether investigation and is helping pinch nan ongoing investigation, nan outlet reports.

Mark Crochet acknowledged nan standard of nan cognition astatine nan time.

Caritas is simply a confederation of 162 relief, improvement and societal services organisations.

It useful successful complete 200 countries and territories globally to 'end poverty, beforehand justness and reconstruct dignity' done assistance programmes.

The group continues to thief civilians caught successful conflicts successful Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan. 

The ungraded is not nan first clip a luck teller has been accused of conning unwitting customers retired of fortunes. 

In 2011, prosecutors successful a abstracted lawsuit said 10 'psychic readers' successful nan US had scammed respective customers retired of a full $40mn by telling them they would beryllium 'haunted' if they refused.

Jude Deveraux, nan writer of 37 New York Times bestsellers, was reported to person fixed $20mn to nan group, according to sources pinch knowledge of nan case.