Alleged ‘psychic’ scammer Maria Williams refused bail for second time
Court documents say police will allege Maria Williams scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting Sydneysiders by claiming she could ‘spiritually cleanse’ their cash.
Police & Courts
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A self-proclaimed psychic accused of scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars from grieving Sydneysiders by claiming she could “spiritually cleanse” their cash has been refused bail for a second time.
Police allege Maria Williams, 49, is part of a multi-generation crime family that has operated money scams across the world for decades.
According to documents tendered to the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, police allege English-born Williams has been using bogus psychic claims to scam vulnerable members of the community out of hundreds of thousands of dollars ever since she first arrived in Australia in 2002.
Police claim Williams, who also goes by the names Anna Wilson, Anna Woods, Charlotte Woods, Celine Woods and Amina Adams, left a trail of victims in Western Australia and Victoria over the years, each time allegedly convincing unsuspecting women to hand over large amounts of money for “spiritual cleansing”, then failing to return the cash and skipping the state.
It is alleged three Sydney women were caught up in the deception, duped out of a combined $439,500 in life savings.
Under NSW law, police are only legally able to lay charges relating to alleged criminal acts which occur in NSW, however prosecutors have revealed they will use information gathered during investigations in WA and Victoria as “tendency evidence” during Williams’ trial, in an attempt to convince a jury she had an established pattern of behaviour in duping women.
The court heard Williams, her husband Larry and sister Tina Montana were arrested at Sydney International Airport in August 2024, sporting one-way tickets to the UK.
Williams was charged with four dishonesty offences and remanded in custody.
She made a bid for bail in February this year on a $10,000 surety but was unsuccessful.
A second attempt at bail on Friday also proved fruitless, despite defence lawyer Feddy Kak, from Abbas Jacobs Lawyers, saying Williams’ surety had increased to $50,000.
“The surety offered doesn’t make any difference, and the affidavits provided now are similar to what was provided on the last occasion,” Justice Julia Lonergan said in finding Williams’ case for bail had not substantially changed since February.
According to court documents, police will allege Williams orchestrated the scam by advertising her services as a psychic in local newspapers.
It is alleged she built trust with clients over a period of weeks or months by having them provide her money in envelopes to be “blessed” in order to remove curses.
“Initially, smaller amounts of money are solicited, which are returned,” police wrote in court documents.
“The (alleged) offenders will progress to larger and larger amounts of money but will cease returning the money.
“The accused is alleged to have committed these offences in furtherance of a global criminal syndicate.”
One NSW woman told police she lost $224,000 to Williams after the alleged con artist convinced her to take out loans, sell her home and pawn jewellery in a bid to remove a supposed curse.
The woman said the incident had left her divorced, bankrupt and suicidal.
Another alleged victim in the grips of a marriage breakdown said she transferred $160,000 from the sale of her house into a bank account connected to Williams under the guise of having the money “spiritually cleansed”.
It is alleged Williams failed to return the cash, prompting the woman to report the matter to police.
Williams’ matter will return to court later this month.
The cases against Larry Williams and Tina Montana, who are also facing a raft of dishonesty charges, are ongoing.
All three have indicated their intention to fight the charges.
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