They are swindlers
• Psychics & Other Frauds
You would think Miss Cleo, a 'Jamaican shaman' whose late-night television slots made her the most famous psychic in America, might have seen the trouble coming and taken evasive action. First, there was the Jamaican Minister who laughed at her accent, then the customer who went to his lawyer after being charged $300 for a brief telephone consultation. And, finally, there was the birth certificate that proved Miss Cleo - real name Youree Harris - wasn't the psychic daughter born to mystical parents from Kingston, Jamaica, but a jobbing actress from Los Angeles, California.
Questioned earlier this year by government lawyers, Harris pleaded the Fifth Amendment, but it was too late. The first of a series of court actions aimed at putting her Psychic Network channel out of business concluded in Missouri last week when two Florida-based businessmen, who employed Harris to front their organisation, were convicted of fraud and fined $50,000 as part of a plea bargain.