Mael Chemla, a U.S., French and Israeli national, appeared in federal court in Miami on Monday following his extradition from Germany to face federal charges in connection with an alleged psychic mail fraud scheme that collected more than $4 million from thousands of consumers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.
Chemla, 61, formerly of Aventura, Fla., faces conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud charges.
An indictment unsealed on Monday alleges that Chemla conspired with others to send letters to people across the United States that appeared to be personalized messages from psychics. The letters falsely claimed that recipients were entitled to a “financial windfall” but would need to send money to collect it.
According to prosecutors, Chemla opened U.S. bank accounts in the names of the purported psychics, deposited victims’ checks into those accounts and wired the money to European bank accounts controlled by a co-conspirator.
The alleged scheme operated from September 2016 through November 2020 and defrauded thousands of Americans, many of them elderly or otherwise vulnerable, the indictment states.
If convicted, Chemla faces up to 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted with the extradition proceedings in Germany and coordinated with the U.S. Marshals Service to bring Chemla to the United States.
