Family of psychics accused of taking millions in scam

NORFOLK

Celia Marks began reading palms and tarot cards in Hampton Roads more than 50 years ago. She handed down the centuries-old tradition to her children and grandchildren, who opened their own shops throughout the region and across the country.

The family has a colorful history. During a feud 80 years ago, one relative bit off a chunk of another's nose. Five years ago, three Markses were convicted of stealing from clients.

Now, the family faces what could be its most serious challenge yet: Two of Celia's sons were charged in a federal indictment for allegedly stealing millions from life insurance companies, and authorities are looking for two other family members. In all, six people were charged.

In U.S. District Court last week, three family members hinted at a defense: They're illiterate. They may be able to read palms, but they can't read an insurance policy.

In many ways, the Marks family paved the way for fortune-tellers to set up shop in the region. The practice was once illegal in Hampton Roads. Police in Norfolk arrested so-called palmists even in the 1970s.

Steven Marks, one of Celia's sons, took Chesapeake to court, forcing the city to stop discriminating against him by denying him a permit to operate. That part of the family now has three fortune-telling shops in Chesapeake.

Last week, Steven adamantly denied involvement in the alleged life insurance swindle. He declined to be interviewed other than to say that he has led a law-abiding life.

A 65-page indictment charges Steven, his brother Mitchell Marks, Mitchell's girlfriend and his two sons, and another woman with a conspiracy to steal $16 million from life insurance companies.

The indictment alleges that policies were taken out on older, sick family members and friends based on medical exams conducted on healthy impostors. Several policies were taken out on Alex Marks, another brother. When he died in 2005, the family received about $800,000 in insurance payouts.

In all, the defendants received more than $3.5 million of the $16 million in policies they had taken out, according to the indictment. In court papers, authorities said they cannot find any of the money.

Steven 's attorney, Andrew Sacks, said his client is "befuddled" by the allegations.

"Steve and his wife enjoy a very good reputation in the city of Chesapeake," said Sacks, who was just out of law school in the early 1980s when he joined his grandfather in representing Steven in the lawsuit against the city.

Steven sued after it had denied him a permit in 1982 to open a palm-reading business. Neighbors called it witchcraft, unwholesome and immoral. After a seven-year court fight, he won, and the family opened its first shop on Campostella Road.

Brother Mitchell and his wife, Nancy, had a fortune-telling business on Little Creek Road in Norfolk. When they split up, Nancy and their son, David, continued running it.

Mitchell moved for a time to California, where he and his girlfriend, Laura Marks, operated a palm-reading shop in the Bay Area - according to her attorney, Laura had been married to another man named Marks, unrelated to Mitchell. Laura and Mitchell now operate a fortune-telling business out of their house in the 5400 block of Tidewater Drive in Norfolk. A woman who answered the door there last week said she was visiting and knew nothing about the business or the federal allegations.

In previous interviews, Marks family members said fortune-telling was a tradition dating back centuries to their ancestors in Romania. Fortune-tellers from Romania's Roma sect "are prized for their remarkable psychic abilities and the gift to attract good fortune or destroy a life with a curse," according to Allie Theiss, a Wooster, Ohio, psychic and descendant of the Romas. She runs the website www.gypsyadvice.com and has written extensively on the history of fortune-tellers.

She warns on her site of psychic scams. One of the most common, she says, is the negative energy scam, in which the fortune-teller asks for large sums of money or jewelry to rid a customer of negativity.

Nancy and David were convicted of participating in that type of scam about five years ago. Authorities at the time said they had evidence that clients were fleeced of $1 million in cash and property.

Nancy could not be located for this story. David is now wanted by federal authorities to face indictment along with his father in the alleged life insurance scam. Another son, Danny Marks, is also wanted, as is Sarah Williams, whose connection to the family is unclear.

Mitchell, 57, is in jail without bond awaiting trial in November. Laura, 56, was expected to post $125,000 surety bond by Friday, her lawyer said, but she was still in jail as of then.

Steven, 61, whose alleged role in the case appears to be minor compared to the others', was released last week without having to post bond.

Both Steven and Mitchell, as well as Laura, told a magistrate judge that they never made it past second grade. Steven and Laura said they cannot read and can barely write, and Mitchell said he has limited reading and writing skills.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Kosky said in court that the case involved 81 bogus insurance policies. The Secret Service and Postal Inspection Service have hours of incriminating taped phone conversations as evidence, he added.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com