Convicted scammer who victims say claimed to be a psychic, Irish heiress faces extradition to UK
A woman accused by fraud victims of crossing the US claiming to be an Irish heiress is expected in court on Wednesday for a hearing that could see her extradited to the UK.
Marianne Smyth, a 54-year-old American, will be in federal court in Maine for the hearing into allegations that she stole more than $170,000 from at least five victims in Northern Ireland between 2008 and 2010. U.K. officials said Smyth stole money she had promised to invest and sold a house to a victim, but took the money.
According to legal documents, a court issued arrest warrants for her in 2021. In February, she was tracked down and arrested in Maine. She is being held at the Piscataquis County Jail in Dover-Foxcroft.
In a court filing, Smyth’s attorney, Kaylee Folster, argued that she is not guilty of the charges and requested a hearing on the charges. Neither Folster nor Smyth would comment on the case.
Smyth’s case bears similarities to Anna Sorokin, a con artist convicted in New York of paying for a lavish lifestyle by posing as a wealthy German heiress.
Among them was Johnathan Walton, who started a podcast in 2021 called ‘Queen of the Con’ to warn others about Smyth. She was found guilty of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Walton and spent about two years in prison.
Smyth said she needed the money after her bank account was frozen and for bail after she was jailed, he said. Walton assumed he would be repaid, as Smyth told him she was owed a $7 million inheritance from her wealthy family in Ireland.
“She plays on people’s weaknesses and many people are too ashamed to come forward and admit they lost this money,” said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Megee, who prosecuted the case involving Smyth was sent to prison.
Smyth and Walton became close over several years in Los Angeles, when she bought him expensive dinners and luxury vacations, he said. But her story began to unravel when Walton realized she was in prison for stealing $200,000 from a luxury travel agency where she worked.
“She has no shame. And she has no conscience,” said the 49-year-old reality TV producer, author and public speaker. “She enjoys casting countless victims as unwitting actors in her elaborate schemes to deceive.”
The podcast has collected tips from dozens of victims from California to New York, Walton said. Some have accused her of setting up a fake charity for Ukraine, while others say she has described herself as an emissary of Satan, a witch, a hockey coach, a cancer patient and best friends with Jennifer Aniston. She often changed her name and appearance, her victims say.
Heather Sladinski, a costume designer in Los Angeles, said Smyth scammed her out of $20,000 for psychic readings, fake life coaching sessions and cult-like retreats involving rituals, breathing exercises and yoga. Smyth was funny, smart and had credentials and other documents to back up her claims, Sladinski said.
The 50-year-old from Los Angeles cut off contact with Smyth after she tried to perform a bizarre ritual with a chicken to win back her ex-boyfriend, who had a restraining order against her, Sladinski said. Smyth then started making threatening phone calls and Sladinski “was so scared” that she moved out, Sladinski said. She filed a police report against Smyth and testified at Walton’s trial.