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Sophie Evon, 77, bilked Washington woman out of life savings A fortune teller who skipped out on a fraud charge years ago apparently failed to see the police closing in.
A self-described gypsy accused of tricking a Seattle woman out of hundreds of thousands of dollars eight years ago has finally been caught.
Police in Canada arrested Sophie Evon, 77, at a house in Calgary, B.C. this week.
"She was hiding, covered up with old clothes and a blanket," said Det. Craig Skelton with Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Investigators said Evon and Sylvia Lee, her daughter-in-law, were running a fortune-telling business in Seattle in 1999 when a woman named Jie Gao, then 26, came to them with boyfriend trouble. Police said that's when Evon pounced.
"She was able to gain the victim's trust through a series of maneuvers where she would pray over sums of money," Skelton said.
Evon and Lee reportedly conducted a series of rituals to cleanse Gao of evil spirits. They even manipulated Gao to buy $4,500 in gold coins for the purpose.
Police said Gao laid down big money to win back her boyfriend. But it was theft, not love, that was in the cards. She lost approximately $220,000, some of which came from her elderly parents' savings.
"That's the interesting thing about it. Gypsy fortune teller scheme is a little unusual."
The two fortune tellers spirited away to Canada, where both were caught. But Evon managed to slip away and stay in hiding for years.
In 2003, Toronto police nearly nabbed Evon at a psychic parlor but she ran out the back door, according to Canadian news reports.
When police arrested Evon this week, they said they found evidence that she had started telling fortunes again.
"There was evidence that a psychic business was being carried on in that house," Skelton said.
In the Seattle case, Gao testified against Lee, who was sentenced to a year and a half behind bars after being arrested in Toronto in 2001. Prosecutors say Gao is ready to face Evon in court.
"She was very anxious to see her return to the United States, and to get back here and be able to testify against her in trial," said Scott Peterson, deputy prosecuting attorney.
Evon remains in Canada, but she cannot fight extradition as she used up all her options before she went back on the lam. A U.S. Marshal will bring her back to Seattle next week.
Cops nab wanted fortune tellerBy NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA She should have seen it coming. But an apparently unsuspecting senior known to pose as a fortune teller was picked up by Calgary cops. Sophie Evon was arrested at a Rundle home Tuesday. The arrest of the 77-year-old — wanted for preying upon a love-lorn U.S. woman and allegedly bilking her out of her family’s savings — ends a fugitive’s five-year cross-country run from authorities. Evon was wanted by U.S. cops since 1999 for allegedly defrauding a Seattle, Wash. woman out of $220,000 while working as a fortune teller. In 2002, she was nabbed after found working at a tarot shop in Toronto. But before she was extradited to the U.S. she fled. After brushes with cops in Vancouver, the law finally caught up with her in Calgary. Det. Craig Skelton said Evon was found hiding in a closet, covered with blankets. “I would say she was resigned to the fact her run from the law was over,” Skelton said. “It’s obvious she didn’t want to go back to the States.” Toronto Police Fraud Squad Det. Mike McGivern, who has been after Evon for years, said he hadn’t given up but was starting to doubt the fugitive would be found. “There’s no doubt, it is a little bit annoying when you get someone that old who can slip through,” he said from Toronto yesterday. “We’re very happy she’s arrested.” McGivern said Evon is accused of posing as a fortune teller and promising to reunite the victim with her boyfriend. The victim had access to her parents’ funds in China and came up with two big piles of money and they prayed for three days and on the third day the fortune teller allegedly took off with the money, he said. U.S. officials have said the victim lost her parent’s life savings and her boyfriend did not return. “I really put the credit on the Calgary team,” McGivern said. “They were just tenacious. “This isn’t a murderer or a rapist, which are our priorities but you feel a certain amount of pity for people who can get taken in.” Skelton said cops found ads for palm reading, tarot card reading and elimination of demons at the home where Evon was arrested, but there is no indications of victims in this city. Evon is awaiting extradition to Seattle.
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