Jury finds ‘ psychic’ guilty of $ 25M fraud
RoseM arks told clients of her psychic business that she could foresee the future, fix the past and even control the Internal Revenue Service — but she was visibly shocked Thursday when jurors took just five hours to find her guilty of masterminding a $ 25 million fraud.
The Marks family matriarch drew deep breaths and gave a slight nod to each of the 14 charges of the indictment as they were read out loud, followed by the word: “Guilty.” The four- week trial featured bizarre testimony from former clients, including best- selling romance novelist Jude Deveraux, who testified that Marks and her family exploited their vulnerabilities, and their religious and spiritual beliefs, to fleece them. Many of thewomen in the family worked under the name “Joyce Michael” or
“Michaels.”
The trial judge rejected Marks’ request to remain free on bond until she is sentenced Dec. 9. He ordered her taken into custody immediately in the federal courtroom inWest Palm Beach. Prosecutors say she facesupto20years in prison.
As she was led from the courtroom, Marks said “I love yous“to her family.
“It’s going to be OK,” she told them in a low voice.
The jury — which included a lawyer, a teacher and a stock trader— found Marks, 62, of Fort Lauderdale, guilty of fraud and money- laundering conspiracies, mail and wire fraud, money- laundering and filing false tax returns.
Her attorney Fred Schwartz said she will appeal on several grounds, including what he called “government misconduct” by investigators who did not record their conversations with victims.
In a phone interview with the Sun Sentinel, Deveraux, the best- selling author of dozens of romance novels, said she was thankful for the verdict.
“I feel relieved that she’s going to be taken out of this psychic business and can’t hurt other people like she hurt me,” Deveraux said.
The novelist estimated she lost about $ 20 million to Marks but said she wants none of the money back.
“The whole thing was never about money. I just wanted justice and mainly to make her stop hurting other people andmaybe to make her whole family stop this.”
Though Marks’ relatives were initially calm and cried softly as the verdict was read, several of them became very upset after jurors left the courtroom and the family realized their matriarch was not going to be allowed to remain free on bond.
“Please let me hug my mom,” Marks’ eldest son, Ricky Marks, asked U. S. Marshals and courthouse security officers.
Other family members begged to be allowed to give their phone numbers to “Pinky” — Marks’ family nickname — so she could call them from jail.
One grandson jeered at the lead investigator on the case, retired Fort Lauderdale Detective Charlie Stack, asking him, “How are you feeling now, Charlie? You did a good job?”
But Marks’ two sons Ricky and Michael Marks tried to calm their family and apologized to Stack.
Daughter Rosie Marks began hyperventilating and collapsed to the floor in the hallway outside the courtroom. She and her two brothers, their spouses, one of Marks’ granddaughters and Marks’ sister have all pleaded guilty to related charges and are free while awaiting sentencing later this year.
Other members of the extended family shouted and one threw a Bible in the courtroom, yelling “I hate this Bible … I don’t want this Bible anymore.”
Therewas more security than usual in the courtroom but the agents and officers handled the disruption diplomatically, urging everyone to remain calm and trying to alleviate the family’s concerns.
“Now justice has been served ... I think the evidence in this case speaks for itself,” said Stack, who began investigating the case in 2007.
He said he took no pleasure in seeing Marks taken to prison butwas relieved that the victims were proved right.
The case, and the publicity it received, raised awareness of predatory and fraudulent fortune tellers, Stack said.
“The victims were praying for hope — and hope is the unwavering faith in the unseen,” Stack said. “But I take no pleasure in seeing someone going to prison and I understand why her family is upset. [ Rose] is somebody’s mother, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s grandmother.”
The jury roundly
rejectedMarks’ SunSentinel. com/ rosemarksguilty defense and sided with federal prosecutors who said she was the ringleader, mastermind and banker for a massive family conspiracy. They also found that she took customers’ money, promising to return it when she knew she planned to keep it.
Not only did she rip off her own customers, the jury found, but she also worked with her daughter and sons, their spouses and her sister and granddaughter to fleece clients of their psychic stores in affluent neighborhoods in Fort LauderdaleandManhattan.
They also found she tried to conceal the source of “dirty” money by moving it through her business and personal accounts and signing checks over to be cashed or deposited by other people.
Deveraux on Thursday said she went toMarks to help her get out of an abusive marriage and continued seeing her for 17 years through a series of crises, including failed relationships, several miscarriages and the accidental death of her 8- year- old son, Sam.
As for critics who ridiculed Deveraux and said shewas gullible for falling for the scam, she said: “I’m glad there are absolutely perfect people who can say that, people that have never made a mistake in their lives.”
Deverauxsaidpeople in abusive relationships and those who are grieving or suicidal are particularly vulnerable. “Someone comes along and gives you hope and you fall for it.”
She warned that customers should be wary of psychics or spiritual advisers who tell them to keep things secret: “That is the number one warning sign.”
Deveraux’s advice to anyone in a similar vulnerable position: “Reach out to your friends, get professional help … don’t go to a psychic.”
Other victims of the family included a female graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, a British lawyer, a grandmother who worked as a secretary for an accounting firm, and several men and women whowere highly educated and held executive jobs. Prosecutors said many more victims were afraid to come forward and face the public ridiculemany of the former clients endured when they testified.
Marks had argued that she provided legal, valuable services to her clients — some of whom worked with her for 34 years— but that they had turned on her. She insisted some of the money was honest earnings, some was gifts from grateful clients and somewas loans.
Schwartz also said Marks had rejected an informal plea offer that could have put her in prison for up to five years. Though the final decision lies with U. S. District Judge Kenneth Marra, Schwartz estimated Thursday that sentencing guidelines will recommend a term of 10 to 15 years.
Prosecutors Larry Bardfeld and Roger Stefin, who declined to comment after the verdict, have filed court records seeking $ 25 million from Marks to return to victims. Her attorney said she has no remaining assets and expects to die in federal prison because of the “wear and tear” of her life as a Gypsy or Roma and because she began working when shewas 8 or 9.
In her only interview about the case, Marks told the Sun Sentinel in December 2012 that the short time she spent locked up after she was arrested in August 2011was one of the worst times of her life.
“The most horrifying experience that anyone can ever imagine [ is] being in jail,” Marks said. “Being accused, being ridiculed, being poor as a mouse, not being able to provide for my family, my family not being able to provide for themselves.”