The Fortune Teller’s Fortune: Psychic's Scam Rakes in Millions

Picture this. You're deep in the middle of the woods, lost, cold, hungry. And through the trees, you spot a little wooden house. A house that shouldn't be there. A house that feels strangely inviting. An old woman steps outside, wrapped in shawls, her voice warm and welcoming, reassuring. She invites you in, offering shelter, food, safety, everything you've been longing for. It feels like a gift, a miracle. The old woman's name is Baba Yaga. She's a character from an old Russian folktale, and nothing in her house. is what it seems. It moves when she wants it to. It opens for who she chooses. And the kindness she offers is never free. The home you step into adjusts itself around you, shifting and twisting, rearranging until you can't quite tell where the door is anymore. And the thing that felt like salvation starts to feel like a treasure. Because Baba Yaga doesn't capture travelers by chasing them. She captures them by giving them exactly what they think they need. In today's story, one man leans on the only friend he thinks he can trust, without realizing she built an entire house of lies all around him. And this is Killer Stories. ♪ Music ♪ In March of 2014, Detective Steve Floyd weaves his card through a ♪ Music ♪ In March of 2014, Detective Steve Floyd weaves his card through a breathtaking forest. He's now entering Cherry Grove, Oregon, population barely 500. It's exactly the kind of place you visit to be alone with nature. Suddenly, the vast stretch of Douglas fir trees comes to an alarming halt. Land that was once alive is now clear-cut and barren. From the road, Steve looks up at a steep driveway to a lonely A-frame cabin. The ♪ Music ♪ From the road, Steve looks up at a steep driveway to a lonely A-frame cabin. The home of Ralph Raines Jr., sole owner of the Raines Tree Farm or what used to be the tree farm. ♪ Music ♪ From the road, Steve looks up at a steep driveway to a lonely A-frame cabin. The detective knocks on the front door, which flies open, to reveal a disheveled man in his mid-sixties, Ralph. Steve announces he's with the Canby Police Department and just wants to ask a few questions. To prove he's no threat, Steve waves a stack of papers. And Ralph, who's been with the Canby Police Department for over a year, says he doesn't know what he's doing. questions. To prove he's no threat, Steve waves a stack of papers and Ralph beckons him inside. The papers tell a story in numbers. It's Ralph's banking activity, and it shows that he spends massive amounts of money on an extravagant lifestyle. But looking around, Steve can tell that's not the case. The house and its furnishings are modest, and it hasn't been cleaned in months. A thick layer of dust has settled, which is odd because Ralph has supposedly spent an arm and a leg on a house cleaner. But when Steve asks Ralph about his finances, he gets agitated. He doesn't have answers to simple questions like, how much money does he have? What are his spending habits? Steve realizes it's not because he's hiding something. Ralph just hates talking or even thinking. Ralph asks Steve about money, and it dawns on Steve. This man, heir to a massive tree farm worth millions of dollars, probably has no idea his fortune is slipping away. Steve changes the subject. Now he wants to know about a couple of women in Ralph's life. Who is Mary Marks? Ralph tells him. Well, Mary is his wife. Although to Steve, it's clear, she doesn't live there. Then Steve asks, who is Rachel Lee? Ralph says, well, she takes care of everything. My money, my business, my home, my son. Steve can tell that Ralph places a lot of trust in these women, and he can also tell that he shouldn't trust them at all. He shows Ralph a list of expenditures, lavish purchases, that Rachel has been making. A trip to Vegas, Rolex watches, a Ferrari, all paid for by Ralph. Did he know anything about this? Confusion and hurt flicker in Ralph's eyes. It's like Steve can see this man's reality falling apart. Finally, Ralph looks up at Steve and says, I think we have a problem here. The problem is Rachel Lee, a person Ralph thought of as his best friend, his business partner, and even his psychic, who'd actually been manipulating him throughout their relationship and taking Ralph for nearly every penny he's worth to the tune of $15.5 million. And it all started 10 years ago and 200 miles away. Let's backtrack now to 2004. Ralph is 57 years old and a lot richer than when we first met him. But you wouldn't know it. To look at him, he's a hands-in, the dirt-salt-of-the-earth type of guy who prefers goodwill jeans over designer clothing. He spends a lot of time caked in mud, riding a tractor around a 1,200-acre forest and tending to his beloved trees. If you want to know anything about Douglas first, I mean, who doesn't, then Ralph is your guy. But today, while driving through Bend, Oregon, after a conference, Ralph has a few questions of his own. So he pulls into a parking lot of a fortune teller. Inside, he sits down across from a woman who tells him she can read his palm. What would he like to know? So Ralph begins to open up about how he's never been in a relationship, how he's lonely in his quiet house on a tree farm, especially since his mother died, how his father is getting older now, and how Ralph wants to prove to his dad that he can't be a family man, too. Someday, if it's in the cards, he wants to find a wife and maybe even have kids. Ralph doesn't get all the answers he seeks that day, but he does find something he's never had before, somebody he feels oddly comfortable with, someone he can tell anything to, the psychic Rachel Lee. Now, Ralph might not seem like the palm-reading type, but actually, he says he goes to psychics all the time. He has an interest in the supernatural and the paranormal. He's a bit of a conspiracy theorist, and if he could choose one place to visit anywhere in the world, it would probably be Area 51. So he's drawn to his new psychic right away. And as Rachel learns more about Ralph, her interest is piqued, too. I mean, is it because A, he's filthy rich, B, he's lonely, or C, he's kind of gullible? I'm gonna guess D, all of the above. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna guess. Because guess what? Rachel Lee is not a real psychic. What? I could have told you that. You know who's real? My real psychic, Miss No Lies. She tells no lies. If you go to, oh, really? You don't believe? She'd say there'd be non-believers here. Anyways, back to the story. When Rachel looks at Ralph, she sees her own bright future. Flashy cars, trips, jewelry. In order to get there, though, she's going to need to pull off a very long con. Over the next two years, Rachel builds trust with Ralph. She tells him about her own past, how she's lonely, too. Since her husband died of cancer, which is a lie. Wow, Rachel, I mean, wow. Lies are bad, but lies about cancer are like really, really, really bad, okay? And if you can believe it, her lies are going to get even worse. There's a lot she doesn't tell Ralph, too. Like the fact that she has a boyfriend named Blancy, or that she has five children. Meanwhile, Rachel learns how the tree farm operates. Ralph's dad handles all the money, and Ralph does all the manual labor, which he loves. In a way, the forest is his closest companion. At least, until Rachel comes along. More than his psychic, Rachel has become a trusted best friend to Ralph. And he turns to her in October 2006 when his whole world shifts beneath his feet. Ralph's father has a stroke. He survives, but now he'll need constant care. On top of that, Ralph has to run the business on his own. It's overwhelming. So, when Rachel offers help on both fronts, she becomes even more of a saint in Ralph's eyes. The one person who knows what to say, what to do, how to make the world feel manageable again. And this, this is where Rachel's guidance starts to look a lot like folklore. In those old tales, Baba Yaga never swoops in all at once. She starts small, a warm voice in the dark, a bit of an unexpected kindness, before quietly rearranging the forest around you. Rachel does the same. Based on her fake experience taking care of her fake husband with fake cancer, she pretends she can handle dad's home care. On a good day, she outsources the work to somebody she pays a fraction of what she makes. On a bad day, allegedly, she just ignores Ralph's dad entirely. Maybe because she's focused on something bigger. Taking control. Taking control of the family's money. Rachel claims her late husband had his own business, and that she was his bookkeeper. So, she can manage all the finances, and Ralph just can focus on his trees. The one part of his life that still feels stable. He couldn't be happier about that. And over these few years, Rachel has become more than an employee, more than a friend. She's the person whose voice reassures him. When everything else feels uncertain. The person he trusts to guide him through the dark. So, he hands her the keys to his entire world. The passwords to his bank accounts, his investments, the tree farm, everything. Rachel's in control now. And the more Ralph relies on her, the more the world around him quietly rearranges itself. The way Baba Yaga's house shifts, and creaks, and sinks. And Ralph has no idea that the home he thinks he's building with Rachel's help is actually a house she's been constructing for herself. It starts with a debit card, which Ralph gives her for reasonable expenses. But reasonable can mean two different things to a tree farmer and a con artist. Rachel uses the card on everything and anything. Groceries? Tree farm card. Gas? Tree farm card. Clothing? Well, no, that, no, no. She pays for that herself. No, just kidding. Tree farm card it is. Swipe! And that's just the beginning. Rachel starts convincing Ralph he needs to transfer money, or even sell off stocks to keep the company afloat. But she's really paying for her own extravagance. Eventually, she drains it all. 300k here, 2 milli there. And because she's overseeing all of the company's payments, she funnels all of the money to herself, to her boyfriend, Blancy, and to family members. And Ralph has no idea. He's blissfully unaware. He believes Rachel that things are going well. But they could be better. He still hasn't found someone to share his life with. So, one day, Rachel announces she's had. a psychic vision. Ralph is about to meet the woman of his dreams. Shortly after that, her prediction comes true. But wait, you might be saying she's not really a psychic, right? Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, my friends. She's a con artist. And she's just come up with a whole new way to scam Ralph out of more of his money. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tramphya, proper training is required. Tramphya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately-to-substantial severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. 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Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbound.lily.com. In 2007, Ralph is waiting outside the Portland airport. He's just returned from another conference and he's looking for his ride, Rachel. She gave him very specific directions about where to sit until she arrives. That's when a woman sits down next to him and strikes up a conversation. In a British accent, she says something like, Excuse me, but is your name Ralph? Oh, oh my God, yes. How did you know that? She tells him she's always had a gift for reading people and proves it by guessing his birthday and his mother's name. Ralph is blown away by this woman who introduces herself as Mary Mox. Physically, she's everything he's been looking for. She's blonde, pretty, wears glasses. He's always loved a British accent and it kind of seems like she's hitting on him. As far as Ralph is concerned, Rachel's prediction came true. But we're not under Rachel's spell. So you can probably guess that the fates did not bring Mary and Ralph together. Rachel Lee did. It's not exactly a whirlwind romance. I mean, there is a whirlwind, but just no romance. What happens is Mary tells Ralph she needs a green card and he agrees to marry her. They hold a small ceremony at Rachel's psychotropic. It's not a psychic shop. It's a fake ceremony. But Ralph doesn't know that. He does understand this will be a marriage of convenience. Mary continues living in California most of the time and visits him at least once a month. And that's perfect. He's totally down. He gets to keep growing his trees and show his father that he can build a family too. Plus, he genuinely likes Mary and enjoys her company. Well, you might be asking. Why did Rachel set them up? What does she gain from this? Well, Mary Marks. isn't really Mary Marks. Her real name is Portia Lee, Rachel's daughter. Ralph has no idea Rachel and Mary have met before, much less that they share a lot of DNA. So when Mary tells him she works for QuickBooks, he asks her to keep an eye on his finances. In his mind, he's being smart. He's creating a system of checks and balances Mary can hold Rachel accountable and vice versa. But it only gives the Lees more access to Ralph's money and trust. Especially once Mary, AKA Portia, gives Ralph a son. Over the years, Ralph has talked about wanting kids. He and Mary discussed it before they got married. And sometime in 2008, Mary tells him she's ready. She wants to have a baby with Ralph via IVF. She tells him there's a doctor lined up back in California. All she needs from Ralph is his donation. And she says, "Here, put it in this." And she gives him what looks like a small metal sauce pan, like the kind you might use to reheat soup. Then she makes Ralph drive it out to her at the airport, where she pretends to pack it up, in dry ice, and fly it back home with her. Now, okay, listen, Google.com is absolutely a very real, very popular website at this time. I just don't think Ralph is the Googling type. He's working with trees. He's not researching how IVF works. And he trusts the people he loves. Even when Mary shows up a few months later with a fairly large baby who's actually pregnant, he's only six months old. And she tells Ralph, "Meet our son. "I named him after one of the greatest men I could think of. "His name is Giorgio Armani." No, really, that's what she names him. In reality, though, the baby is her nephew. That also makes him Rachel's grandson. The baby's real mom is Rachel's other daughter, Pebbles. That's right. She named her daughter Pebbles. So it appears Rachel has been making poor choices for quite some time now. Now, everyone around town looks at this beautiful baby boy and says, "Wow, he's amazing." And he is definitely not Ralph's kid. Do we, do we say something? Or do you guys want to say something? I just, look at the kid, it's not. But as far as anyone can tell, Ralph is none the wiser. And he shows his father that he's created a family just before his father passes away. When that happens in 2011, Ralph inherits everything. And in Rachel's mind, what's his is hers. Now, she finally has access to Ralph's biggest asset. It's the one she still hasn't even touched. She couldn't, not while his dad was still alive. But with dad gone, Rachel plots to sell off the tree farm itself. She tells Ralph that because he inherited so much money from his dad, he owes a lot of taxes. More than he can pay, which isn't true. She'd already drained the accounts. So Ralph didn't inherit a lot of cash, but he doesn't know that. I can't imagine the decision is easy for Ralph. The tree farm is his life. He grew up there. He's worked there for decades. But Rachel knows how to make him see things her way. She understands his distrust of the government. He's a conspiracy theorist. She tells him, "Look, if we don't sell off some of the farm, the feds are going to take all of your money." Which, along with Mary's endorsement, is all Ralph needs to hear. Rachel sells off four plots of land. Everything but the spot where Ralph's home sits. The largest plot goes for over $8.7 million. And the company that buys it cuts down nearly all of Ralph's trees. Now, Rachel goes full-on Scrooge McDuck. She's just swimming in a pool of gold coins. But unlike Scrooge, she spends it like the Great Gatsby. She and her family hit up Las Vegas, where Rachel buys a Rolex watch for over $63,000. Glancy buys a Ferrari and a Bentley, dropping half a mil in just two days. And then he spends a few more bucks on personalized license plates that read Mr. Big One and Mr. Big Two. But hey, they also pick out a new car. For Ralph, they don't leave him out. For the professional farmer who lives in the middle of nowhere and is roughly as tall as a basketball player, Rachel selects a teeny tiny little compact car. Then there's the real estate. Rachel starts buying up buildings in Oregon and California, some of which she turns into more psychic shops. It's actually kind of wild that she's still passing herself off as someone who can see the future. as someone who can see the future. Especially when you consider how the fates really do come together to bring Rachel Leigh down. to bring Rachel Leigh down. Who actually ate? Did they finish? Plus, you can feed your cat. You can feed them from anywhere. Visit Petivity.com. P-E-T-I-V-I-T-Y.com/CatFeeder to learn more. Did you know that psoriatic arthritis may progress over time and could cause permanent joint damage if left untreated? Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away. If you're allergic to psoriatic arthritis, imagine being a million miles away. Explore the possibilities. Visit Petivity.com/CatFeeder to learn more. Rachel may have fabricated the life Ralph is living. She may have orchestrated his marriage while pretending to be a psychic, but sometimes the stars actually do align and good things happen. In 2013, Liz Crothers sits in her car during yet another long commute to work. Every day she passes through the small town of Cambie, Oregon, and she always notices this little psychic shop. It seems like it's constantly being renovated. But what really stands out to her are the vehicles in the parking lot: a Ferrari and a smart car. Around here, most people drive large trucks, so both of these cars really stick out. Anybody else might go on with their day, but Liz Crothers is a veteran detective with the Portland Police Department, and she has a hunch that something strange is afoot. It's easy enough to find out who the cars are registered to. The Ferrari belongs to Blancy, and the smart car is Ralph's. His name is also on the deed to the psychic shop, along with lots of other properties he's recently bought. And Ralph is a 60-something tree farmer who never dabbled in real estate before. Liz smells a rat. And here's where things really get serendipitous. A few months later, Liz attends a training session through work. Coincidentally, it's a seminar all about fraud. How to spot it and how to prevent it. A whole weekend about stopping fraud. Between speakers, Liz is making small talk with some fellow detectives, and she realizes she is right. randomly standing next to Steve Floyd, who works for the Canby Police Department. She immediately asks about the psychic shop and the cars parked out in the front. Steve replies, "He knows who the smart car belongs to. "Ralph Raines." As soon as he says Ralph's name, another woman standing next to them whips around and says, "I know Ralph Raines. "Her name is Marlene Olsen. "She works for the Department of Justice, "but she used to be a logger "who worked at the Raines tree farm." Liz cannot believe this turn of events. By the end of their conversation, they have a plan. Marlene will pay Ralph a visit at his house in Cherry Grove. When Marlene sees what's become of the tree farm, she feels sick to her stomach. See, this place was special to a lot of people, not just Ralph. When his father built this amazing, totally sustainable business, the idea was that they could sell off a small portion of trees each year so they'd always have time to regrow. Long ago, the Raines family opened up their 1,200 beautiful acres to the community, inviting neighbors to camp, hike, and hunt. Marlene had loved that farm too. Now it looks half dead and very quiet and eerie. As she pushes past the red gate and approaches Ralph's house, she realizes the front door is hanging open. Nobody's home. She doesn't get a chance to speak with Ralph, but his neighbors are all too happy to talk, and they don't have anything nice to say about Rachel and Mary. Even if the task force hadn't just met at a fraud training seminar, they could see Ralph was being talked to. That's why Steve Floyd gets ahold of those bank records and knocks on Ralph's door to tell him about Rachel. Ralph does his best to be logical. He understands what Steve is telling him and agrees that Rachel should give his money back. But to Ralph, they're talking about his best friend for the past decade. Steve is even asking questions about Mary, his wife, whom he's known for seven years. These aren't just some strangers. I mean, you can see why it's damn near impossible for Ralph to really digest what he's hearing. After his encounter with Steve, Ralph wants some answers. So he confronts Rachel. She denies it all, of course. And now she knows she may be running out of time. So Rachel tells him, pack your bags. We're going to area 50. She plans a trip to the one place he's always wanted to visit. Was she trying to get Ralph out of town to simply hide? Or was there a more nefarious plan in the works? We may never know. But some officials believe Ralph was in danger. Meanwhile, prosecutors race to get search warrants. They want to look at Rachel's psychic shops before she can destroy the evidence. Or make a run for it. When they raid the shop in Canby, they find some incriminating stuff. Like videos of the high roller trip to Las Vegas. A deed where Rachel has signed over Ralph's ownership to herself. And two sets of blonde wigs and glasses. You know, Portia's "Mary" disguise. But the Lees aren't there. Police find them at their other shop in Bend. With their suitcases and other things they need. The place is packed and ready to go. And Portia's hiding over $36,000 in cash in her underwear. So yeah, I don't think they're planning to stick around for the day. You know what I'm saying? After Rachel and Portia are arrested, Blancy turns himself in. And all three plead guilty. Blancy also promises to pay back the money. He's sentenced to two years in prison. And last I heard, he was selling cheese. Cheesesteaks. Portia tells the court she was only following her mother's orders and she gets less than three years. Before she goes to prison, Ralph asks to meet with her one last time. Because he's having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that his wife doesn't exist. So Portia agrees. She agrees to see him. And shows up wearing the "Mary" disguise. And in front of Ralph she removes her glasses and her wig and speaks to him in her real voice. Her own accent. She lets Ralph watch the woman he trusted dissolve into someone he's never met. As for Rachel, she gets a longer prison sentence. About eight years. Ralph gets some of his money back eventually. And he tells the media outlets that he wishes everyone well. And that when he thinks of the Lees, he actually has nothing but good memories. Which might sound naive, but maybe it isn't. Because Baba Yaga's magic doesn't work by force. It works by projection. She becomes whatever you need. A healer. A helper. Even a bookkeeper. And you only realize the danger once the spell breaks. And the house closes in on you. Ralph didn't fall into a trap because he was foolish. He fell because he was human, lonely, hopeful, open to connection. Trust isn't weakness. It's the door we keep choosing to open. And the only real danger is closing that door forever. Because living without trust, without connection, that, that's the kind of house no one survives in. Thanks for tuning in to Killer Stories, a Spotify podcast. New episodes release on Mondays. If you liked today's story and want to learn more, we drop some of our favorite sources in the episode description. Until next time, I'm Harvey Guillen. Stay safe out there. Bye. Bye. Bye. 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