Women accused of taking – not giving – fortuneBy MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot
© March 8, 2005 | Last updated 11:53 PM Mar. 7
NORFOLK — The woman went last year to a fortune teller in a small, white building on East Little Creek Road, out near the amphibious base, between the Soaps N Suds and the check-cashing joint. The fortune teller had bad news: Negative energy surrounded the woman.
A ceremony that cost $200 could remove it, though. The woman forked over the money.
That was just the start.
Soon the fortune teller and the fortune teller’s mother, named in court documents as Peaches and Nancy Marks respectively, were calling the woman, warning her that negative energy still surrounded her and the people in her life and that it had to be “cleansed.” That required candles and tabernacles, which cost more money. She was urged to bring in her valuables for cleansing.
The woman turned over a $500 gift card from Hecht’s, three Morgan silver dollars in mint condition and a credit card. She gave up pearls, a gold watch and a gold wedding band with sapphires.
She figured she had given about $22,000 to be cleansed. Some months passed, and she wanted her money back.
She called the mother, and the mother told her, “The money is plugging up a hole in a boat, and if you take away the money the hole won’t be plugged, and if we unplugged it, we would have to start over.”
Then the woman had a sinking feeling. She went to the police . A city detective listened and watched while she made phone calls and went by the place, trying to get her valuables.
All that is according to a search warrant filed Monday in Circuit Court so that the police could go into 4214 E. Little Creek Road, where a sign advertises card readings and astrology. The detective wanted to look for the woman’s stuff.
Attempts to contact the woman were unsuccessful. Her age was not listed in the warrant. Police did not say what, if anything, was recovered.
Meanwhile, police arrested Nancy Marks, 54, of Virginia Beach, who was identified in court papers as the fortune teller’s mother. They charged her Friday with grand larceny and conspiracy, according to court papers. She was being held without bail in the city jail.
Her daughter Peaches Marks, 33, who court records said was also known as Velia Petro, also has been charged in the case and was being sought Monday. Court records indicated she was wanted for grand larceny in Florida.
Police revealed little, saying the investigation was ongoing.
Nobody answered the door at the building Monday afternoon. A woman who answered a phone call to a number posted on the building declined to comment.
Police are asking anyone with more information to please call Norfolk Crimeline at 1-888-Lock-U-Up.Crimeline at 1-888-Lock-U-Up.
Staff writer Michelle Washington contributed to this report.
Reach Matthew Roy at 446-2540 or
matthew.roy@pilotonline.com.
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