[url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20091210/tod-canadian-charged-with-sham-witchcraf-879dccc.html]Source[/url]
[quote]A Canadian woman is to appear in court on Christmas Eve for posing as a witch in order to defraud a grieving Toronto lawyer in a case that invokes a century-old law, police said Thursday.
Vishwantee Persaud was charged under a very rarely used section of Canada's criminal code with allegedly pretending to practice witchcraft to convince a man that she was the embodied spirit of his deceased sister.
She did so, say police, in order to defraud him of tens of thousands of dollars.
"Witchcraft is how she got her hooks into him to commit a larger series of frauds against him," said Toronto police Detective Constable Corey Jones, who investigated the case.
"She claimed to have come from a long line of witches and could read tarot cards, then told him his deceased sister's spirit had returned and inhabited a feminine form close to him -- intimating it was her -- and that she was going to guide him to financial prosperity and business success," he told AFP.
This allowed her to befriend the victim and become involved in his business dealings, setting the stage for the fraud that was to follow, including fictitious expenses for law school tuition and cancer treatments, he explained.
The ruse fell apart after the last in a year-long series of business schemes failed in September.
"Like coming out of a hangover, the victim finally realized something was wrong and contacted police," said Jones.
The bogus witching law was enacted in 1892 when witchcraft was no longer a punishable offense in Canada, but fears persisted that it could be used as a cover for fraud.
It makes it illegal for anyone to fraudulently pretend to exercise witchcraft or sorcery or enchantment.
Jones conceded the law is "obscure... but it's still on the books," and it captures what he believes transpired -- "preying on a man's sensitivities" to commit an "absurd" fraud.
"The law is not directed at witches, but rather at using the pretence of witchcraft to separate someone from their money," he noted.
If convicted, the accused faces up to six months in jail and a possible fine of 2,000 Canadian dollars (1,900 US) for sham witchcraft. She also faces two fraud charges, which carry much heftier penalties.
Persaud is now in custody awaiting trial, after being denied bail last month.[/quote]
Witches, eh?
Wow I didn't know it was already 1692.
Canada....
I thought we were over witchcraft.
Burn her!!!!
Hey Nick, is that the sound of your Ex-Wife?
Meh, you never really know; it's possible that there is witchcraft among us, but I doubt it would come out like this.
[QUOTE=Skippy!;18840313]Burn her!!!![/QUOTE]
Burn the witch! :flame:
These idiots are crying wolf; now when a real act of witchcraft happens, no one will believe it.
[QUOTE=FLoggin Moffins;18840681]These idiots are crying wolf; now when a real act of witchcraft happens, no one will believe it.[/QUOTE]
Exactly, better to :flame: them all.
well at least shes not being put to death.back then if you you commited anything even related to witchcraft you would be dragged out of your house and be burned at the stake or hung at the gallows.
:witch::witch:
:what:
Call it a hunch but I don't think anyone is reading the part about fraud.
[QUOTE=GhostSonic;18841656]Call it a hunch but I don't think anyone is reading the part about fraud.[/QUOTE]
That's exactly what I was thinking too.
Canada isn't Nigeria, we don't stone people to death for practicing "witchcraft", the law acknowledges that witchcraft is bullshit and was made to prevent gypsies and whatnot from tricking gullible people into giving them money because they claim to have extraordinary powers like being able to talk to dead relatives.
Wow. That's disgraceful.
Goddamnit, we're supposed to be the smart country!
[QUOTE=Skippy!;18840313]Burn her!!!![/QUOTE]
She turned me in to a newt!
[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;18840306]Canada....
I thought we were over witchcraft.[/QUOTE]
This law is for fake witchcraft. Witchcraft is legal here, but pretending to perform witchcraft in order to commit fraud isn't.
I have no idea why this warrants its own law instead of fitting into normal laws against fraud though.
[editline]06:15PM[/editline]
I'm also wondering how they proved she [i]isn't[/i] a witch. Isn't it pretty much a self-proclaimed title?
[QUOTE=GhostSonic;18841656]Call it a hunch but I don't think anyone is reading the part about fraud.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=M2k3;18841892]That's exactly what I was thinking too.
Canada isn't Nigeria, we don't stone people to death for practicing "witchcraft", the law acknowledges that witchcraft is bullshit and was made to prevent gypsies and whatnot from tricking gullible people into giving them money because they claim to have extraordinary powers like being able to talk to dead relatives.[/QUOTE]
Call it a hunch but I think that by thinking you're both ahead of everyone else you just put yourselves in the dunce corner.
Aww, I was hoping for Shamwow related witchcraft.
Dude had it coming, if you believe the first motherfucker that shows up on a broomstick, you're a fucking idiot.
I realize he was in a sensitive spot with his sister dead and all, but witchcraft? Come on people!
Looks like she wasn't very good at Persauding him :smug:
[QUOTE=Dr Magnusson;18844337]Dude had it coming, if you believe the first motherfucker that shows up on a broomstick, you're a fucking idiot.
I realize he was in a sensitive spot with his sister dead and all, but witchcraft? Come on people![/QUOTE]
If someone flew to me on a broomstick I'd believe just about anything they told me.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;18843074]This law is for fake witchcraft. Witchcraft is legal here, but pretending to perform witchcraft in order to commit fraud isn't.
I have no idea why this warrants its own law instead of fitting into normal laws against fraud though.
[editline]06:15PM[/editline]
I'm also wondering how they proved she [i]isn't[/i] a witch. Isn't it pretty much a self-proclaimed title?[/QUOTE]
You're implying that Witchcraft isn't fake.
itt: no one reads the thread
Wait, if you can properly perform witchcraft, it's perfectly legal? Although it's not possible.
So, if she floats in water she's innocent?
[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;18844661]You're implying that Witchcraft isn't fake.[/QUOTE]
There are people who practice it, believing that it is real. That's perfectly fine, until they start scamming people.
The education disparities in the world are astounding.
In Canada, they arrest people for pretending to be witches. In Nigeria, they kill people for supposedly BEING witches.
Probably a dumb nigger
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Racism" - JohnnyMo1))[/highlight]
They could try the drowning method. If she survives she dies, If she drowns she still dies!
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