Woman claims to have been duped by Henderson psychic

Grace Leong

Monday, July 23, 2001 | 9:47 a.m.

A Las Vegas woman sued a psychic, her husband and their landlord, alleging they preyed on her "fear and cultural background"' and allegedly duped her into handing over $20,000 in cash to them so the money could be burned in order to "remove the darkness in her life."

Maria Lee sued Stephanie Amil doing business as Holly "Nevada's Number One Psychic," her husband, Teddy John Miller, and their landlord, David Brian Spears, in Clark County District Court, alleging the psychic tricked her into giving her $20,000 -- which the psychic allegedly claimed needed to be burned to ward off evil spirits, "death, illness, unhappiness, sorrow and disaster."

Mont Tanner, Lee's attorney, said: "The defendants, supposedly a group originating out of San Francisco, were targeting people who look or appear less familiar and secure in their environment. Lee, who is Korean-American, has only been in Vegas a few months. She just moved here from Hawaii and was just recently divorced. She gave the $20,000 only after Amil gained from her a certain amount of confidence and trust and became controlling."

"We don't believe the cash is burned. That's why we're filing the suit," Tanner said.

Lee said she was approached by Amil while walking near the Four Queens hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas on May 23, and was told that "darkness" surrounded her and that she was required to sit for palm, face, forehead and card readings at Amil's rented home at 2422 Muirfield Ave. in Henderson.

The suit said Miller gave Lee instructions to the Henderson home, and when Lee arrived on May 24, Amil allegedly hypnotized Lee against her will and demanded from her $20,000, which they claimed they would burn. They said they would scatter the ashes of the cash in the Las Vegas desert.

Lee withdrew the $20,000 from her bank accounts on May 25 and gave the money to Amil, who then set a bag allegedly containing the money on her barbeque grill and started burning it, the suit said.

When Lee later asked for the alleged ashes and the money to be returned, her requests were denied and the defendants allegedly began to harass her on the phone, the suit said.

The suit said Spears was named as a defendant because he allegedly negligently entrusted his property to Amil and Miller for their alleged criminal activity.

Lee, who said she suffered severe mental distress as a result, said she filed a criminal complaint against Amil on June 7 with the Henderson Police Department.

Terry Bowler, the Henderson police department's public information officer, said the defendants are believed to be "nomads who run scams from location to location. They are known in the (Las Vegas) Valley for doing scams like this. They are believed to be still in the Las Vegas area."

Sgt. Patrick Moers said Henderson police are still investigating Lee's charges and are trying to locate the suspects. Charges have not been filed against the suspects, he said.

Bowler, in describing a ritual Lee said she underwent to get rid of the "bad spirits," said: "Amil allegedly put the 'money' on the barbecue grill and then placed a tomato in a wet towel. She instructed Lee to bend over, turn around, close her eyes while Amil squeezed the tomato, and threw tomato juice on Lee. And at the end of the ritual, they threw the tomato and towel on to the grill."

The defendants could not be reached for comment on the allegations.