Mother-Daughter Fortune Tellers Stole 'Cursed' Money
CHICAGO (STMW) - A mother-daughter fortune telling team convinced at least three people to give them their life savings because the money was "cursed" and needed cleansing, then fled with the cash before being caught in Arizona.
Laura Santini, 62, and daughter Rosann Santini, 36, are charged with stealing more than $62,000 from a 60-year-old woman in April 2007 and $45,000 from a couple in July 2007, telling them the root of their problems was their money, which needed to be "cleansed," court records said.
The women told their victims they would take the money to a shrine in Indiana to be prayed over, in order to bless it and "purge it of evil spirits."
In both situations, the victims asked for their money back but were told something bad would happen to them and their children if they did not have the money cleansed.
The victims obliged and later asked for their money back repeatedly but were told consistently it was not ready yet, and that the women needed more time to pray, court records said.
Instead, the women fled and the victims discovered a "For Rent" sign on the Santini home.
Both women are self-proclaimed gypsies who were employed as fortune tellers and "physic healers" in the 8400 block of West Castle Island Avenue in Chicago, court records said.
The women were arrested last spring and scheduled for arraignment in April but fled, prompting no-bail arrest warrants.
After originally fleeing to Dallas, they were arrested July 17 in Scottsdale, Ariz., for being passengers in a car reported stolen from Illinois. They were extradited to Illinois on Oct. 7, court records indicated.
They were ordered held on $100,000 bond at a Thursday hearing and a preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 17, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.
The women face felony theft and theft by deception charges, authorities said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
