A Quebecer received a 10-year prison sentence in the United States for carrying out one of the largest mail frauds in history, worth around $240 million, and making more than 1, 3 million American casualties.
Patrice Runner, 57, who could establish himself as the biggest fraudster from the province, received his sentence on Monday in New York State, according to a press release from the American authorities.
“Patrice Runner’s extravagant lifestyle, on the backs of millions of older and vulnerable Americans, has come to an end,” said Chris Nielsen, inspector in charge of the Philadelphia division of the United States Postal Service. His conviction and federal sentence are appropriate punishments.”
Last June, Runner was found guilty of approximately 15 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering following a two-year jury trial. weeks.
Known LEDs
The Quebecer defrauded citizens over more than two decades, between 1994 and 2014.
The head office of the company he managed was located at Place Ville Marie, in the heart of downtown Montreal.
The scheme used the identities of world-renowned mediums such as Maria Duval and Patrick Guérin.
This affair has also been the subject of multiple reports and a book entitled: A Deal With the Devil: The Dark and Twisted True Story of One of the Biggest Cons in History.
The fraudulent letters, which appeared personalized, were however sent to tens of thousands of households per week.
Courtesy evidence
In exchange for fees ranging from 5 to 50 US dollars, the psychics offered to help victims obtain luck or avoid misfortune.
As soon as a person was cheated the first time, they received other requests for fees varying this time between 20 and 50 dollars.
Victims were bombarded with more than a hundred letters, and some of them made dozens of payments, losing thousands of dollars.
Shell companies
The group behind this mass scam obtained the majority of their victims’ contact details through other mailers’ mailing lists.
Runner used front companies in Canada and Hong Kong to hide his involvement, while he lived in various countries such as Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Costa Rica and Spain.
The fraud stopped in 2016, when US authorities banned the companies from using their postal services.
Courtesy evidence
The leader was then arrested by Spanish authorities, then charged, before being extradited to the United States in 2020.
Runner faced up to 20 years in prison on each charge.
Worse than Lacroix
Already in 1990, he had been fined $100,000 in Quebec for having published classified ads for the services of a psychic who could predict winning lottery numbers.
Two of his accomplices, Montrealers Maria Thanos and Philip Lett, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in 2018.
For comparison, the historic fraud of Vincent Lacroix, with Norbourg, defrauded 9,200 investors for $130 million in 2005.