Man arrested in NYC for duping elderly woman!

An Indian national was arrested in New York city for allegedly cheating an elderly woman of over Rs 17 lakh, promising to change her fortune and also offer spiritual guidance. A report in CBS News said that Hemanth Kumar Muneppa, 32, was taken into custody after the 68-year-old woman reported that the man was demanding large sums of money to perform rituals.

Initially, she paid $20,000 (around Rs 17 lakh) earlier this month for his services. She then wanted some more services from him and returned to him when he demanded another $42,000 (around Rs 35 lakh). Believing in him, she took Muneppa along with her to a bank to withdraw the money and pay him. However, the staff at the bank suspected something fishy and raised an alarm by contacting the police, who rushed and arrested him immediately.

Muneppa was associated with Anjana Ji, a company that is involved in special rituals for removing evil spirt and ‘love spell casting’. According to the company’s website, it also several other services like forecasting fortune, etc.

However, under the New York State law, fortune telling is illegal if offered for a fee, unless it is explicitly for entertainment purposes. CBS reported a statute which mentions that charging money claiming to remove curses and evil spells, offering spiritual solutions or predicting the future, is considered an offence, Class B misdemeanor.

Fortune telling is an offence when a fee or compensation is received. Those involved in claiming or pretending to tell fortunes, pretends use of occult powers, answers questions or gives advice on personal matter, or exorcises, influences and affects evil spirits or curses, are also punishable in New York. There is no punishment when all the above are part of a show or exhibition solely for entertainment purpose. Muneppa is now facing charges of grand larceny and illegal fortune telling. He would be produced before the court.