Police in Austria have issued a European arrest warrant for a woman they believe posed as a shaman to defraud victims out of large sums of money.
Police said they discovered cash, jewellery and gold worth over 10m euros (£8.3 million) at the woman’s house in Mödling, near Vienna.
They said the suspect is a 44-year-old Austrian citizen named only as Mariana M, who went by the name Amela.
Her 29 year-old son has been arrested and is in custody in the town of Wiener Neustadt.
Police say they believe Mariana M may have defrauded people in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Police say Mariana M told one victim that a “close relative had been cursed and that she foresaw her death. In order to break this alleged curse, the accused then demanded 730,000 euros for ‘cleansing rituals'”.
They said after the victim had handed over the money to the accused in several instalments, the suspect broke off contact. Another woman then informed the victim by telephone that the “shaman” had fallen into a severe coma as a result of the ritual.
Director of Police in Lower Austria, Franz Popp, said: “In a world in which many people are looking for answers to the essential questions of life, profiteers have established themselves who claim to possess supernatural powers.”
“They exploit the trust of their victims who are in emotional or financial distress and are looking for help and support,” he added.
Police have appealed to any other victims to contact the Lower Austrian State Office of Criminal Investigation.
