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Fake witch charged with ... committing fraud

rjh01

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rjh01
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'Fake witch' to face court on Christmas Eve


The bogus witching law was enacted in 1892 when witchcraft was no longer a punishable offence 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.
<snip>
If convicted, Persaud faces up to six months in jail and a possible fine of 2,000 Canadian dollars ($2,075) for sham witchcraft. She also faces two fraud charges, which carry much heftier penalties.
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Maybe we need more people charged like this. I just wonder what other fraud charges she faces.
 
I like the intent of the law but I am not so sure charging people with "fake witchcraft" sends the right signal. After all, practicing witchcraft has no actual impact on reality. It implies its possible for someone to actually practice witchcraft with real impacts on the world. The law they charged her with, according to the article, says:

It makes it illegal for anyone to fraudulently pretend to exercise witchcraft or sorcery or enchantment.
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Why not just charge someone with general fraud or misrepresentation? That way, the woos can pretend to practice witchcraft (people do have freedom of religion) while you can still go after the ones trying to scam people with their woo. There should be laws in every country that make it illegal to engage in contracts where one party willfully misrepresents themselves.
 
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Excellent. Good on the police force and the justice system for getting her.

Too bad Krelnik is no longer working on the Wall of Harm. This would have been a good story.
 
LightinDarkness said:
I like the intent of the law but I am not so sure charging people with "fake witchcraft" sends the right signal. After all, practicing witchcraft has no actual impact on reality. It implies its possible for someone to actually practice witchcraft with real impacts on the world.

Why not just charge someone with general fraud or misrepresentation? That way, the woos can pretend to practice witchcraft (people do have freedom of religion) while you can still go after the ones trying to scam people with their woo. There should be laws in every country that make it illegal to engage in contracts where one party willfully misrepresents themselves.
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I agree. This could be abused, turning into another witch hunt!
 
The first paragraph in the linked article states:

Vishwantee Persaud was charged under a rarely used section of Canada's criminal code for allegedly pretending to practice witchcraft to convince a man that she was the embodied spirit of his deceased sister. She did so, police say, in order to defraud him of tens of thousands of dollars.
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[bolding mine]

It's important to note that this is not religious persecution; her crimes of fraud and misrepresentation have nothing to do with the practice of Wicca as a faith system.

Also:

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.
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It was an elaborate scheme that lasted more than a year and was designed to milk the gullible victim for all he was worth. This is a far cry from practicing witchcraft/Wicca/paganism as part of one's spiritual belief system, or for ritualistic, mind-attuning purposes.

"The law is not directed at witches, but rather at using the pretence of witchcraft to separate someone from their money," he said.
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I see no danger here of a slippery slope leading to persecution/prosecution of modern-day Wiccans, witches or pagans.
 
we used to burn them, now we're charging them
is this progress or what
:D
 
Vortigern99 said:
The first paragraph in the linked article states:



[bolding mine]

It's important to note that this is not religious persecution; her crimes of fraud and misrepresentation have nothing to do with the practice of Wicca as a faith system.

Also:



It was an elaborate scheme that lasted more than a year and was designed to milk the gullible victim for all he was worth. This is a far cry from practicing witchcraft/Wicca/paganism as part of one's spiritual belief system, or for ritualistic, mind-attuning purposes.



I see no danger here of a slippery slope leading to persecution/prosecution of modern-day Wiccans, witches or pagans.
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Excellent summation!
Speaking as a former Canadian police officer - we never went after the Wiccan religion - nor did we act upon those little corner shops that told fortunes for $5.00.
 
There also seems to be an issue of semantics here. She was charged for being a "fake witch" only because she called herself a witch.

If she had called herself a psychic or fortune teller, she probably would not have been charged. Or would have been charged under a different law.
 
AvalonXQ said:
This. It seems like all of these cases can be prosecuted under general fraud law; it seems redundant to bother with a special "fake witchcraft" law.
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This has been all over the MSM here. The cop or the crown attorney (forget which) said that it was only one of many charges and, although it was an unusual charge, one or two were issued every year or so.

It might send a message. Though I doubt it. :(
 
LightinDarkness said:
I
Why not just charge someone with general fraud or misrepresentation? That way, the woos can pretend to practice witchcraft (people do have freedom of religion) while you can still go after the ones trying to scam people with their woo.
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My first guess would be that the wording prevents it from being applied to religion in general.
 
Makes me wish Sonoma was in Canada. Anyone got a really big helicopter with a winch? Not a fake winch, that'd be fraud.
 
I think I have it figured out. The only defence against the charge of pretending to be a witch is to prove that you are a witch. Once that is done we can burn her and thus provide a valuable lesson to other wooish frauds. :rolleyes:
 
Gord_in_Toronto said:
I think I have it figured out. The only defence against the charge of pretending to be a witch is to prove that you are a witch. Once that is done we can burn her and thus provide a valuable lesson to other wooish frauds. :rolleyes:
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Sorry, the burning of witches is no longer allowed due to the excessive amount of CO2 released.
 
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