Jury rules Quebec man ran 20-year mail fraud scheme that stole US$175 million

The U.S. flag flutters in the wind on election day at the polling location at Magisterial District Court 21-3-05 on Main Street in Shenandoah, Pa., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. A United States federal jury has found that a Quebec man ran a mail fraud scheme that stole more than $175 million over a 20-year period. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Republican Herald, Jacqueline Dormer

A Quebec man has been convicted in United States district court of running a mail fraud scheme that used fake psychics to steal more than US$175 million from Americans over 20 years.

Patrice Runner, 57, was found guilty on 14 charges Thursday by a federal jury in Islip, N.Y. The charges included conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was found not guilty, however, on four counts of mail fraud.

"As part of the scheme, Runner sent letters to millions of U.S. consumers, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable. The letters falsely purported to be individualized, personal communications from so-called 'psychics,'" the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release.

Those communications — which contained what appeared to be handwritten notes in an effort to convince recipients that the psychic's vision was specifically about them — told recipients the psychic would help them obtain wealth and happiness for a fee, usually between $5 and $50.

But instead of psychic assistance, recipients would receive more letters offering to sell them additional services and items with supernatural powers.

"The letters, in fact, were mass-produced form letters, not from psychics, and the victims received no services or unique and supernatural objects after submitting payment," according to the indictment.

The only difference between letters were the recipients' name and date of birth, the indictment says.

Most of the letters purported to come from two French psychics, Maria Duval and Patrick Guerin.

Prosecutors said Runner ran the operation through a Montreal-based company, which hired third-party vendors to print and mail the letters. He was also convicted of using shell companies, registered in Canada and Hong Kong, to hide his involvement in the scheme.

According to court documents, he exchanged mailing lists with other direct mailers — including some that were running other fake psychic scams.

Between January 1994 and November 2014, more than one million Americans sent money to Runner's operations, according to U.S. prosecutors.

Runner, who is detained in a U.S. jail, is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.

Four people have already pleaded guilty in connection with their involvement in the scam.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.