Local Spanish speakers give her thousands for cures and ‘cleansing’

A 35-year-old Hispanic man plagued by alcoholism saw a small advertisement near his west Medford home in October that gave him faith he could dispel his demons.

"Señora — Healer," the card said in Spanish. "She will help you resolve any type of problem — regardless of how difficult."

The man met several times with Señora Maria, a hefty woman with freckles and facial hair who charged him $300. Then Señora Maria coaxed the man out of another $4,700 to be "cleansed" in a church ritual and to be returned to him at 8 p.m. Sunday at her west Medford apartment.

When the man went to her apartment Sunday, he found it vacant, as did several other people who police say likely represent just some of the area’s Hispanic community whom these cons scammed out of large sums of cash.

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Medford police now are looking for Señora Maria, her male accomplice and at least one other woman in hopes of ending their string of scams and putting the cash back in the victims’ hands.

"It was obviously a well-planned con," Medford police Lt. Mike Moran said Monday. "It looks like they worked people for several days, and we think they worked a lot of people.

"Preying upon someone’s desire to be cured of an affliction is pretty reprehensible."

Finding faith-based con games within the Hispanic community is not too unusual because a belief in spiritual intervention is part of Hispanic culture, local Hispanic activist Milo Salgado said.

"They’re easy to prey on because of their faith," said Salgado, a board member of Centro Hispano of Southern Oregon, which works as a community liaison for Spanish-speaking people here.

"Spiritually, people always have great hope that God will do something for them, that things will get better," Salgado said.

A 29-year-old Medford man’s desire to rid himself of chronic headaches turned him to the spirit world after someone put Señora Maria’s card on his windshield at a west Medford laundromat.

He visited Señora Maria, a 5-foot-5, 200-pound woman in her 40s with brown hair to her waist and hair on her upper lip and chin.

The man spent $475 on secret ritual candles to end the headaches and also make him a rich man someday, police said.

He, too, was told to bring $6,000 for cleansing. He was also told his common-law wife must bring $4,000 for cleansing to ensure the curse would not get passed to her, police said.

The pair scraped up the money, all in $100 bills as instructed, and were told to collect it at 8 p.m. Sunday at the apartment at 1510 W. Main St., Moran said.

Police were called to a disturbance outside the apartment shortly before 10 p.m. They discovered 10 angry people thought to be victims of Señora Maria and her sidekick, a well-dressed Hispanic man who went by the name Juan.

Police described him as 6 feet tall and 190 pounds, with receding black hair and a mustache.

Señora Maria also was nursing a male infant, police said.

Records show that the couple, who claimed to be married and from Southern California, had rented the apartment in early October using false identities, Moran said. They were accompanied by a thin, attractive 21-year-old woman who they said was their daughter, and she went by the names "Tereza" and "Candy," Moran said.

Throughout October, they placed the 3-by-5 card advertisements on cars and businesses frequented by Hispanics, Moran said.

Salgado said the post pear-picking time of fall is the most common for cons because there is more money circulating in the community. Also, many Latinos do not trust banks, so "Latinos always have some cash somewhere."

One woman looking for a cure for an undisclosed illness told police Señora Maria cracked an egg over her head to solve her problems. The woman then gave Señora Maria $1,500 for cleansing and was told to collect it Sunday.

Señora Maria’s card claims to help in matters of love, work, muscular pains, insomnia and sexual impotence.

Salgado said spiritual-based scams are somewhat common in Mexican crime, so seeing it surface occasionally here is not surprising.

"It’s like Black Magic," Salgado said. "They are lured by the possibilities."

Señora Maria likely is long gone, Moran said, but not forgotten. Police will alert other agencies to the con, and check whether other cities have similar cases, he said.

Officers are looking for Señora Maria’s car — a new white Ford Explorer or Expedition with damage to the rear left side, Moran said.

Police also are looking for more victims or witnesses to come forward. They are asked to telephone Maria Swan, Medford police’s minority liaison, at 774-2215, or Detective Ben Miller at 774-2230.

Police hope the interviews will unveil evidence that will help reverse Señora Maria’s fortunes.

"It’s quite the scam and it was fairly well executed," Moran said. "We need to find some part of their plan that didn’t work well, then we’ll catch them."

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail mfreeman@mailtribune.com