A Canadian man who orchestrated a fraudulent psychic scheme that swindled millions of Americans is now destined for prison.
Patrice Runner, a 57-year-old dual-citizen of Canada and France, was found guilty on June 16, 2023 of defrauding victims out of over $175 million through a massive mail scam that targeted vulnerable individuals.
The US Department of Justice stated that Runner could face up to 280 years of imprisonment for his crimes.
Between 1994 and 2014, Runner, posing as famous psychic Maria Duval, sent millions of letters promising fortune and happiness in exchange for money.
One such letter from 2014 claimed that the recipient's life was about to improve but required a payment of $37.50 to reveal more, as reported by the Washington Post.
Another correspondence stated, "All you have to do to see your life change is grasp the hand of friendship we are holding out to you," with that friendship starting at $50.
Though the letters appeared to be personalized with handwritten notes and personal information about the recipients, these details were allegedly obtained from data brokers.
In reality, the letters were mostly identical and mass-produced to enable the fraudsters to distribute tens of thousands of them each week.
Runner and his accomplices specifically targeted elderly individuals suffering from dementia or those facing financial difficulties, often obtained through rental and trade of mailing lists with other mail fraudsters.
Once they made the initial payment, they became the target of hundreds of subsequent "personalized" letters requesting money for additional services and guidance from Duval. Some victims lost thousands of dollars through this scheme, according to the DOJ.
Notably, Maria Duval herself was not involved in the fraud; investigators discovered that all correspondence was managed by deceitful individuals posing as a Montreal-based company called Infogest Direct Marketing under Runner's direction.
Runner acted as the ringleader throughout the entire 20-year operation, providing guidance to those running the day-to-day operations.
To cover his tracks, he utilized numerous shell companies and lived in various countries such as Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and Spain.
In December 2020, he was extradited from Spain to the US after being indicted on 18 counts. A federal jury in the Eastern District of New York found him guilty on 14 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and related crimes.
Runner now faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count, amounting to a potential sentence of 280 years in total.
Inspector in Charge Chris Nielsen of the Postal Inspection Service's Philadelphia Division stated, "For over 20 years, Patrice Runner managed a predatory scheme that targeted older Americans by mailing personalized letters to millions of victims purporting to be from a world-renowned psychic. [The] verdict should have come as no surprise to Mr. Runner."
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