Patrice Runner nailed in $175m mail fraud

Patrice Runner, 57, directed a ruthless psychic mail scheme for over two decades. It was one of the largest -- if not the largest -- scam of its kind ever, the DoJ said. Runner ran a direct mail operation based in Montreal using the business name 9097-9394 Quebec Inc. He sent mailings to millions of Americans that claimed to be personal letters from popular psychics. In the letters, the purported psychics claimed to have seen a "personalized vision" of the elderly or ailing target. They promised to help that person achieve vast wealth and happiness or overcome illness, all for a fee, of course. Once an initial payment was made, the victims were "bombarded with dozens of additional letters". Some victims were directed to send anywhere from $5 to $50 for "unique and supernatural objects" that were actually cheap Chinese trinkets. Spanish cops arrested Runner in his Ibiza villa in April 2019. He was extradited to the U.S. in December 2020.

He remains caged with his sentencing date yet to be determined. Maria Thanos, 59, and Philip Lett, 52, from Montreal, Sherry Gore, 72, of Indiana; and Daniel Arnold, 61, of Connecticut were also busted and face long jail terms.