International hunt for ‘shaman’ who stole £8,300,000 in cash and jewels using ‘powers’ A woman claiming to be a ‘shaman’ is accused of swindling millions of pounds from her victims using her ‘fortune-telling powers’.
Police said they discovered cash, jewellery and gold worth over 10m euros (?8.3 million) at the woman's house in M?dling, near Vienna.
The 44-year-old persuaded people of her supernatural abilities, going as far as convincing a woman that a close relative was cursed and that she could foresee their death, police said.
Director of police in Lower Austria, Franz Popp, said: ‘In a world in which many people are looking for answers to the essential questions of life, profiteers have established themselves who claim to possess supernatural powers.
Police believe Mariana M may have defrauded people in Austria, Germany and Switzerland and authorities are currently working to track down more of her victims.
