10yr Sentence Handed To Psychic Mass-Mailing Fraudster: Over 1.3 M People Were Victims To This Scheme

Runner oversaw the scheme's operations for its entire two-decade duration, delegating day-to-day activities to co-conspirators via a Canadian company.

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A Canadian man has been handed a 10-year prison sentence in the Eastern District of New York for orchestrating a large-scale fraudulent scheme via mass-mailings, which swindled over $175 million from more than 1.3 million victims across the United States.

Patrice Runner, 57, who holds Canadian and French citizenship, was found guilty by a federal jury in June 2023 after a two-week trial. The charges included conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, as well as multiple counts of mail fraud and wire fraud.

From 1994 until November 2014, Runner ran a scheme wherein he sent letters to millions of Americans, predominantly targeting the elderly and vulnerable. These letters falsely posed as personalized messages from supposed "psychics" Maria Duval and Patrick Guerin, promising recipients great wealth and happiness in exchange for fees. Upon receiving a payment, victims were inundated with further letters offering additional services and items for additional fees. Despite claims of personalized visions, the letters were essentially identical form letters sent to tens of thousands of victims weekly.

Runner and his associates obtained victim names through renting and trading mailing lists with other fraudulent schemes. Notably, the so-called "psychics" had no involvement in the operation, and victims who paid received no further communications from them. Some victims lost thousands of dollars after making multiple payments.

Runner oversaw the scheme's operations for its entire two-decade duration, delegating day-to-day activities to co-conspirators via a Canadian company. He utilized shell companies based in Canada and Hong Kong to conceal his role while residing in various foreign countries, including Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and Spain.

Runner was extradited from Spain to the United States in December 2020 to face federal charges.

“This case demonstrates that the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and its partners in the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) are committed to investigating and prosecuting transnational fraud schemes targeting Americans consumers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

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“The global nature of this scheme meant that we had to rely on law enforcement from around the globe to provide evidence of criminality. We want to thank officials from France, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Canada, and in particular the Canadian Competition Bureau, for providing assistance in securing evidence in this matter, as well as Spain for arresting and extraditing Runner, ensuring that justice could be done.”

“Patrice Runner’s extravagant lifestyle, born on the backs of millions of older and vulnerable Americans, has come to an end,” said Inspector in Charge Chris Nielsen of the USPIS Philadelphia Division. “The conviction and federal sentencing of Patrice Runner is the appropriate punishment for someone who routinely preyed on vulnerable and elderly Americans. Postal Inspectors will continue to work tirelessly to ensure you can trust that the US Mail is free of these types of predatory schemes.”

Runner has been convicted twice by Canadian authorities for orchestrating fraudulent schemes. In 1991, a business registered under Runner's name was fined US$31,100 for falsely advertising the services of a clairvoyant who claimed to predict winning lottery numbers. Similarly, in 2000, another company associated with Runner was fined US$362,000 by a Quebec court for deceptive advertising regarding weight-loss products.

During an interview with The Walrus conducted from a detention center in New York, Runner explained that the appeal of his long-standing scam lay in his ability to capture the attention of millions of individuals who, "after a few minutes... send a check to obtain a product from an address or company they are unfamiliar with."

The court learned that letters were printed in Canada, transported by truck to Albany, New York, and then sent out in large quantities. Companies connected to Runner dispatched approximately 56 million letters over two decades, from 1994 to 2014, generating US$175 million in revenue from nearly 1.5 million people in Canada and the US.

Four additional co-conspirators previously admitted guilt to conspiracy charges related to the mass-mailing fraud scheme: Maria Thanos, 60, from Montreal, Canada; Philip Lett, 53, also from Montreal; Sherry Gore, 73, from Indiana; and Daniel Arnold, 62, from Connecticut.

The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) conducted the investigation.

The department advises the public to remain vigilant against fraudulent schemes involving "psychics," lotteries, prize notifications, and sweepstakes. Individuals should refrain from responding to phone calls, letters, or emails promising substantial prizes in exchange for fees. Fraudsters often use official-sounding names or the names of legitimate lotteries or sweepstakes, or pose as government agents offering assistance in claiming prizes.

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