Portugal detains couple over 400,000-euro fake tarot spiritual fraud

Online esoteric promotion and financial exploitation

Portuguese judicial police placed a foreign couple under investigation after uncovering an extensive internet fraud scheme that stripped an individual of more than 400,000 euros. According to official police statements, the female suspect built an online presence by presenting herself across social media channels as a professional tarot reader. She operated a dedicated website specifically designed to advertise her purported occult abilities and promote esoteric services to prospective clients. Investigators determined that the fraudulent activities began in January of this year, when the suspects established contact with the victim and capitalized on her psychological and emotional fragility. Over several months, the victim was persuaded that her money required specialized ritual intervention to achieve spiritual results.

The Polícia Judiciária outlined the exact deceit used to extract funds from the victim during the investigation.

Since January of this year, the victim was convinced to carry out several bank transfers and in-person cash deliveries, under the false pretext that the money needed to be blessed and purified for spiritual work, promising the subsequent return of the amounts.

Cash collections and displays of wealth

The financial extraction involved both digital transactions and physical handovers arranged across multiple encounters in Portugal. To secure substantial sums of cash directly, the couple made repeated short-duration trips from abroad into Portuguese territory. Police confirmed that the suspects arrived in Portugal on Thursday for their latest collection and had already booked return flights to Brazil for Saturday. The victim made multiple cash handovers alongside electronic bank transfers after receiving assurances that the funds would be returned. While collecting the victim's money, the couple maintained high public visibility online through regular social media updates. Both individuals shared numerous posts showcasing a highly luxurious lifestyle that featured manifest signs of wealth funded by their activities.

Police surveillance and international coordination

The detention of the couple was carried out on Friday following an operational response led by the Polícia Judiciária. The investigation was headed by the agency's Diretoria do Centro, operating in close coordination with officers from the Diretoria do Norte. Locating the suspects required structured cross-border intelligence sharing between Portuguese police and foreign counterpart authorities. Formal detention warrants issued by a competent judicial authority were executed before the suspects could leave the country. Detectives intercepted the couple on Friday, halting their planned departure back to Brazil scheduled for the following morning.

Criminal background and judicial detention

Background checks conducted during the investigation revealed that both suspects already had criminal records in Brazil. Brazilian law enforcement had previously arrested the female suspect in 2015 in connection with offenses of a similar fraudulent nature. Following their arrest on Friday, the couple was transferred to a Portuguese court for an initial judicial appearance. The judicial authority imposed the most severe coercive measure available, remanding both the woman and her husband into preventive prison. Both suspects remain in pre-trial detention while Portuguese authorities continue legal proceedings regarding the 400,000-euro fraud case.