Frauds by spiritualists and psychics

Frauds by Spiritualists and Psychics –
Conscious Vs Unconscious Fraud
Anti Superstition Laws in India

विचार मरत नाही |
You cannot kill an Idea
Dr. Narendra Dabholkar

Introduction
• Spiritualism has been defined as a belief that spirits of
the dead or other universes have both the ability and the
inclination to communicate with the living of our
universe.
• The afterlife, or “spirit world”, is seen by spiritualists, not
as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to
evolve.
• These two beliefs:
• (1) that contact with spirits is possible, and
• (2) that spirits are more advanced than humans, leads
spiritualists to a third belief: that spirits are capable of
providing useful knowledge about moral and ethical
issues.

Introduction
• It is this third belief system that sometimes
creates an opportunity for frauds by
spiritualists and psychics.
• While espousing a belief system is not a form of
fraudulent but representing oneself as a “god”
or conveying messages on behalf of a “god” or
“spirit” is false and may result in liability for
fraud. The other significant concern, is that
such people engage in extortive conduct.

Frauds By Spiritualists And Psychics

Overview to Frauds by Spiritualists
• Our modern reality is that sometimes
persons with religious, spiritual, emotional
or psychological vulnerabilities will turn to
psychics and/or spiritualists when their
issues are not resolved by traditional licensed
psychologists, therapists and/or religious
advisors.

• Psychics and spiritualists, however, are
unregulated in our society, and thus there is
a greater opportunity for fraud.
• Fraud has the opportunity to occur where the
victims/clients of spiritualists and psychics
have vulnerabilities, and when the spiritualists’
succumb to their own greed.

Psychics And Spiritualists, Are
Unregulated In Our Society

• One of the difficulties with alleging fraud by
psychics and spiritualists is proving that
their representations are untrue.
• However, when a spiritualist claims to
communicate on behalf of a spirit, and when
the communication is designed to obtain the
transfer of money and property, we are of
the view that Court may find that such
representations are fraudulent.

• Because of this difficulty in distinguishing
between the communication of a belief
system, and communicating (channeling) on
behalf of a spirit to obtain the transfer of
property, cases of fraud by psychics and
spiritualists are normally only prosecuted as
civil recovery and/or criminal cases when:

• The fees charged to the victim/client for
such services are significantly outside of
acceptable ranges charged by licensed
psychologists, therapists or religious advisors;

• The psychic and spiritualist demands the
transfer of money, jewellery or other
personal property from their victim/client to
prevent some form of harm or to obtain some
form of benefit, with a promise to return the
money, jewellery or other form of property
which does not occur, the psychic and
spiritualist converts the money, jewellery or
other personal property for his or her own use.

• The psychic and spiritualist demands their
victim/client pay for their lifestyle, which
may include providing them with a home,
vehicles and necessities and/or luxuries of life
under the guise that providing the lifestyle is a
gift or legitimate form of contract for services.

• Breach of trust is often an aspect of fraud
prosecutions against psychics and spiritualists.
• By obtaining the trust of victims/clients, the
spiritualist or psychic often obtains not only an
unfettered view of the person’s vulnerabilities, but
also information about their financial assets and
resources.
• When, over time, the spiritualist or psychic obtains
control of their victim’s/client’s state of well-being,
the opportunity to extort and psychologically coerce
the transfer of money, property and lifestyle arises.

Conscious and Unconscious Fraud
• The question of fraud by spiritualists is an
interesting and complicated one. Fraud is
commonly thought of as simple deception
practiced for money.
• However, with spiritualists there are
occurrences of apparently deliberate trickery
in which there was no reward to be obtained.
• Moreover, some academics allege that there exist
cases in which the medium seemed entirely
innocent and ignorant of the fraud they were
perpetrating.

• This has led to the concept of conscious versus
unconscious fraud.
• For example, when the medium makes
misrepresentations in a trance state, it could be argued
that untrue statements made to induce the transfer of
money were a form of unconscious fraud.
• Conversely, often frauds perpetrated by mediums
appear in connection with physical phenomena
(such as miracles or healings), and are thought to be
a form of conscious fraud (the healings are
disproven by science).

• Whatever the reasons for fraud, those who
research the representations of spiritualists
have come to realize that even the most
honourable spiritualist leader should not be
trusted without reserve, even if his or her
character in normal life seems blameless and
there was no apparent objective for committing
fraud.

Whatever the reasons for fraud, those who research the representations of
spiritualists have come to realize that even the most honourable
spiritualist leader should not be trusted without reserve

• Another way of considering unconscious frauds
by spiritualists is to view the conduct as occurring
in a state of dissociated consciousness.
• For example, in a trance a spiritualist may make
representations with belief in the truth of their
statements, while in the waking or conscious state
they hold no subjective belief.
• This sort of phenomenon has been alleged in
cases where a person repeatedly commits thefts
in the daytime under the effect of a dream in
the night before.

• Based on the foregoing, the key to
unravelling fraud by spiritualists is to
disprove there is any objective to subjective
credibility to the representations they make,
and to associate these representations with
unusual transfers of money or property to the
spiritualist, or funding of their lifestyle.

Unconscious fraud
• Unconscious fraud is fraud committed by
somebody who does not consciously realise
that they are deceiving others.
• Examples could be a hypnotised person or
perhaps a medium in a trance, neither of
whom would consciously realise that they
are engaging in acts which make others
believe a falsehood - such as that a 'spirit'
has moved an object.

Difference between conscious and
unconscious fraud
• It is extremely essential to distinguish between
conscious and unconscious fraud as one easily
coheres with the other.
• Fraudulent money procured by the acts of
automatism when the victim is in a state of trance falls
under the heading of unconscious fraud.
• Automatism can be practised on a victim in varying
degrees. In more pronounced cases, the victim is
entirely unaware of what he/she is doing and has
entered a state of complete trance.

Fraudulent money procured by the acts of automatism when
the victim is in a state of trance falls under the heading of
unconscious fraud

Difference between conscious and
unconscious fraud
• In such an instance, he/she can be pardoned.
However, in a minimal or lesser degree of trance,
the victim may be initially conscious or partly
conscious and gradually enters a state of
complete trance.
• In the latter case, he can be partly accused for the
fraud committed. On the other end, when a
person is conscious and not under a state of
hypnotism or any other medium of trance, the
fraud he/she commits is termed as conscious. It
is punishable by the law.

Conscious And Unconscious Fraud

Types of unconscious fraud
• Through self practised clairvoyance
• Devious clairvoyants can extract information
from their customers through muscle reading or
by 'judicious enquiry' of the client's past and
present.
• This information can then be used for
fraudulent means. As the client would be
unaware of this fraud committed in his name,
it can be put under unconscious fraud

• Through automatism
• Automatism has precisely been defined as,
"An involuntary act such as sleepwalking
that has been performed in a state of
unconsciousness.
• The subject does not act voluntarily and is not
fully aware of his or her actions" Automatism
can further be categorised as follows:

• Hypnotism
• Under hypnosis, a person is said to have
elevated concentration on a particular
thought or event barring the sources of
distraction.
• Due to this, a person can be compelled to
perform an act of your desire. Therefore,
hypnotism can enable a person to commit a
fraud he or she is unaware of.

• Somnambulism
• Somnambulism or sleepwalking is a tendency
where the person carries out all the routine
activities like cooking, getting up from bed
walking and so on and so forth in a state of
sleep.
• In such a state where the conscious mind is not
functioning, there is a possibility that the victim
may commit a crime or a fraud he would entirely
be unaware of when conscious.

• Concussion
• Concussion or minor head trauma refers to a
head injury with a temporary loss of brain
function. Its prominent symptoms include
post-traumatic amnesia and loss of
consciousness.
• Under this state, the deceitful act committed by
the victim would be unconscious fraud.

• Through Illusions
• Time and again, fraud is committed by
deceiving people through optical and other
illusions.
• Skilled techniques using a sleight of hand,
thread or hair to move objects or hoax spirit
photography to establish the existence of
spirits and ghosts are professed to fraudulently
fool innocent people

Law
• Automatism is the best defense that excludes
the responsibility of the crime committed by
negating acts reus.
• Therefore, a somnambulist or a person under the
influence of hypnosis or any other automatic
phenomena who steals a property, commits a
monetary fraud or participates in any other
criminal act will be excluded from actus reus
as he has performed the illicit act in a state of
unconsciousness

Automatism is the best defense that excludes the
responsibility of the crime committed by negating acts reus

Extortion
• It is of view that frauds by spiritualists most often
take place in the form of extortion by way of
psychological coercion. The Canadian Criminal Code
provides that anyone commits extortion who:
• ‘Without reasonable justification or excuse and with
the intent to obtain anything, induces or attempts to
induce any person by threats, accusations, menaces
or violence, to do anything or cause anything to be
done.’
• In common language, while fraud is theft by lies,
extortion is theft by psychological coercion.

It is of view that frauds by spiritualists most often take place
in the form of extortion by way of psychological coercion

Fraud
• Rogue spiritualists may be liable for fraud,
both at common law and in equity, if, by
psychological coercion:
• They require the transfer of money, jewelry or
other forms of personal property, or funding of
their lifestyle, from their clients/victims, to
prevent the occurrence of some harm or to
maintain a state of perceived well-being; and
• There is a lack of objective reality to the
representations they are making.

Rogue spiritualists may be liable for fraud, both at
common law and in equity, if, by psychological
coercion

Fraud
• More formally, the traditional test to prove civil
fraud, requires a fraud victim to prove:
• The defendant made a false representation;
• The defendant had subjective knowledge of the
falsehood (or was willfully blind or recklessness with
their representations);
• The false representation was material to the
plaintiff’s decision to act (induced the plaintiff to
transfer money or property, or pay for the defendant’s
lifestyle); and
• The plaintiff incurred a loss while the defendant or
others were enriched.

Fraud
• Frauds involving spiritualists or psychics,
the analysis starts with determining whether
their representations are objectively
reasonable.
• When their representations are found to be
false by an objective standard, then the
analysis shifts to whether the spiritualist could
have subjectively believed what they were
representing.

Frauds Involving Spiritualists Or
Psychics

Fraud
• As in all fraud cases, it is essential to follow
the money to test the credibility of the
subjective belief being represented.
• As mentioned above, the dividing lines
between those who are well-meaning
spiritualists and those who are rogues focuses
on the following questions:

Fraud
• Is the amount of money being charged by
the psychic or spiritualist outside of
societally acceptable ranges for licensed
therapists, psychologists or religious
advisors?

Fraud
• Is the psychic or spiritualist demanding
their victim/client pay for their lifestyle,
such as providing them with a home,
vehicles and necessities and luxuries of life
under the guise that providing the lifestyle is
a gift or legitimate form of contract for
services?

Fraud
• When these situations exist, and where the
victim/client the spiritualist’s demands, the
client of the spiritualist or psychic should
retain a professional to conduct due
diligence, with a view to obtaining an opinion
on whether they are truly being assisted with
their issues or are instead a dupe to a fraud or
an extortion.

Criminal Witchcraft
• Fraudulently pretends to exercise or to use any
kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or
conjuration; or
• undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes;
or
• pretends, from his skill in or knowledge of an
occult or crafty science.

Criminal Code of Canada - section 365

The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human
Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and
Black Magic Act, 2013
• Recently, the Maharashtra State Legislature passed
the much publicized Anti- Superstition Bill.
Maharashtra became the first state in the country to
pass a bill to combat practices like black magic.
• In India, people believe a lot in tantriks and babas
and most of these babas are frauds and earn money
in millions on the basis of promised miracles and
health cures.
• This amended bill was drafted by the Social Welfare
Ministry of the Maharashtra Government. A police
officer of any rank has the power to investigate cases
of black magic.

The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and
other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013

• The bill seeks to criminalise practices
related to black magic, human sacrifices,
use of magic remedies to cure ailments and
other such acts which exploit
people’s superstitions.

• The bill is specifically aimed at curbing
superstitions that cause financial loss and
physical injury.
• If found guilty, the offender would be liable to
punishment ranging from six months to seven
years and a fine between Rs.5,000 and Rs. 50,000.
• The Bill, soon to be act has 12 clauses which
are punishable offences. All of these offences
are non- bailable.

The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of
Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and
Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013

Some of the features of the bill are as
follows:
• Any person who advertises, promotes, propagates or
practices human sacrifice and other practices such as
evil and aghori practices and black magic will be punished
with imprisonment for a term which will be not less than
six months and which may extend for a term of seven
years and with fine ranging from Rs. 5000- Rs. 50000.
• It is the duty of the vigilance officer to prevent such
activities from happening in his jurisdiction and if he
notices any such activity, then he has to report such cases
to the nearest police station.
• Any person obstructing the police officer from doing his
job will get a punishment for a term which may extend
to a term of three months or a fine extending to Rs. 5000
or both.

Some of the features of the bill are as
follows:
• The Police officer has the power to seize any
material, instrument or evidence that is being
used for the act or that he has reason to believe
that the same is being used for committing such
an act.
• If the accused has been convicted under the
act, then the competent court has to instruct
the police publish in the local newspaper where
such offence had taken place and other such
details about the offence.

The 12 clauses that are punished and that are
given in the schedule are as follows:
• Under the pretext of removing
a bhoot (ghost) from a person’s body, tying
that person with a rope or a chain or a stick,
assaulting them or asking them to drink water
soaked in footwear, hang the person to the
roof, pluck their hair, ask them to touch heated
objects or force them to conduct sexual act in
the open or force the intake of urine or stool.

Under The Pretext Of Removing
A Bhoot (Ghost) From A Person’s Body

Make financial profits by displaying
so called miracles.
• Cheat and terrorise people with the aid of such
miracles. The stress is on making money.

Make financial profits by displaying
so called miracles.

• With the objective of attaining
supernatural powers, do something or ask
others to do something that might cause
injuries or risk to life.
• At the pretext of searching for hidden treasure
or water source do something that is inhuman,
gruesome and ask or encourage or suggest for
human life as prashad.

With the objective of attaining supernatural powers, do
something or ask others to do something that might cause
injuries

At The Pretext Of Searching For Hidden Treasure
Or Water Source Do Something That Is Inhuman

• Create a feeling of fear by giving an impression
of having supernatural power or pretending
that someone else has such powers or threaten
that evil will befall if he/she doesn’t obey the
person having such powers.
• 6. Creating suspicion about a person claiming
that he/she performs black magic through
which he/she carries evil practices and makes
life difficult for that person or declare that a
person is a Satan or form of Satan.

Create a feeling of fear by giving an impression of
having supernatural power or pretending that
someone else has such powers

Creating suspicion about a person claiming that he/she
performs black magic through which he/she carries evil
practices and makes life difficult for that person

• Beating up a person or have a procession of a
naked woman saying she is a witch or restrict
her routine.
• Threatening to invite a ghost and creating fear
in the mind and misguiding people by claiming
to cure a disease with the help of mantras by
preventing medical aid.
• Preventing medical aid and instead claiming to
cure a person bitten by snake, dog or scorpion
by chanting mantras or by tying threads or
similar things.

Threatening to invite a ghost and creating fear in the
mind and misguiding people by claiming to cure a
disease

Preventing medical aid and instead claiming to cure
a person bitten by snake, dog or scorpion by
chanting mantras

• Claiming to change the sex of the foetus in the
womb.
• Giving an impression that one has supernatural
powers or that the devotee was his/ her wife/
husband or paramour in past birth thereby
indulging in sexual activity with such person. Having
sex with a woman yearning for a child claiming to
make her pregnant with supernatural powers.
• Claiming that a differently abled person has
supernatural power and using him or her for business
purpose.

Claiming to change the sex of the
foetus in the womb

Giving an impression that one has supernatural powers or that the
devotee was his/ her wife/ husband or paramour in past birth thereby
indulging in sexual activity with such person

Claiming that a differently abled
person has supernatural power

Karnataka Prevention of Superstitious
Practices Bill, 2013
• Following in the footsteps of Maharashtra is the state of
Karnataka.
• The draft law titled the Karnataka Prevention of
Superstitious Practices Bill, 2013 has been drafted by
the students of the National Law School, Bangalore.
• NLS, Bangalore was entrusted with the task of drafting the
bill by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. According to the
draft bill, thirteen superstitious practices have been
classified as evil practices. Of these 13 offences, 11 are
cognizable while 2 are non- cognizable. The draft law also
proposes the death penalty for human sacrifice in the name
of black magic.

• According to the draft, there will be a new
office called The Karnataka Anti
Superstition Authority at Bangalore
and Vigilance Committees on Superstitious
Practices in each of the districts. The vigilance
committee which will have some powers of a
Civil Court will include the District
Magistrate, three Govt officials, and five Civil
Society members.

Assam
• The Assam Government has been mulling
an anti-superstition law.
• Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi recently
announced that the state government was
contemplating to enact a law to put an end to
the practice of witchcraft.

Anti-Superstition laws across the
world
• All across liberal democracies, anti-
witchcraft and anti- divination laws have
been repealed.
• The USA has TV channels with plenty of
psychic lines, tarot readings, crystal balls,
palmistry. They have achieved a great
balance by adding a tiny disclaimer “For
Entertainment only”.

References
• Assam's anti-witch hunting bill gets President's nod
• https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/assam-s-anti-witch-hunting-bill-gets-president-s-nod-
1287104-2018-07-16
• Frauds by Spiritualists and Psychics
• https://investigationcounsel.com/post/frauds-spiritualists-psychics-conscious-versus-
unconscious-fraud/
• Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti
• https://antisuperstition.org/
• Maharashtra Anti Superstition Act 2013
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Superstition_and_Black_Magic_Act
• Psychic & clairvoyant | Scamwatch
• https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/buying-or-selling/psychic-clairvoyant
• Spiritualist & Psychic Fraud
• https://www.canadianfraudnews.com/spiritualist-psychic-fraud/
• The Karnataka Prevention of Superstitious Practices Bill, 2013
• https://www.nls.ac.in/results/superstitionbill2013.pdf

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