Mother daughter team spent 10 years conning tree farm heir out of $20M
An Oregon psychic is accused of using her daughter as part of a 'sweetheart swindle' to extort millions of dollars from the ageing heir of a tree farm fortune in an incredible scam that spanned 10 years.
Prosecutors allege Rachel Lee, 43, of Oregon, and her daughter, Porsha Lee, 25, created an intricate plot that convinced the elderly victim that Porsha was his wife and that they had together produced a young son named Giorgio Armani.
The decade-long scheme allegedly saw the fortune of Ralph Raines Jr., 67 - the sole heir to Raines Tree Farm, which had been in his family for three generations - liquidated of $20 million, leaving him with just $200,000.
The mother-daughter team used the proceeds to go on high-flying trips to Las Vegas, buy expensive cars - a convertible Ferrari with 'MRBIG' plates and a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible - as well as several properties, according to Oregon Live.
The intricate conspiracy began in 2004 when Raines traveled from his family's 1,300-acre tree farm in Gaston to Bend for a farming conference.
Incredible swindle: Rachel Lee, 43, allegedly spent 10 years scamming an ageing Oregon timber heir, liquidating him of an alleged $20 million, using a plot where her own daughter, Porsha Lee, 25, convinced the man she was his wife
There he met Rachel Lee, who had a local psychic business, and allegedly cottoned on to the wealth that Raines commanded.
Lee kept in close touch with Raines and, in 2006, Raines hired her as a caretaker for his father, Ralph Sr., who had suffered a stroke, according to a feature in Willamette Week.
Court records claim Lee was soon in charge of the family's finances.
Later that year, Raines bought a $915,000 house in Portland, to which Lee's family moved.
The scam took a major turn in 2008 when Lee introduced her daughter into her plannings.
Porsha Lee - then 17 - put on a blonde wig, heavy makeup and faked a British accent, and was introduced to Raines as a as Mary Marks, a UK resident who needed a green card.
Raines told investigators who quickly fell for the woman's charms, especially when she told him she wanted to have a child together.
'Ms Marks' said she wanted to have the child through IVF, convincing Raines to donate his sperm.
Stroke: Lees first gained the trust of the family by working as a caretaker for Ralph Raines Sr. (picutred), who suffered a stroke in 2006
She told him she was going to California to have the baby and later returned with a son, which she told Raines was his.
The baby actually belonged to Porsha's sister, Samantha.
Somehow, Porsha managed to brainwash Raines into believing they were married.
During this time Lee had established joint bank accounts for her daughter and her husband and was allegedly extorting money into accounts of her own.
The plot took another turn in 2011 when Ralph Raines Sr. died, with Rachel and Porsha Lee handling his $5 million estate.
Rachel Lee went on to convince Raines to sell the family farm for $12.3 million, saying that he needed money for inheritance taxes.
As the sale went through, Lee and boyfriend, Blancey Lee, bought themselves luxury cars - a $200,000 Ferrari convertible and a $300,000 Bentley Mulsanne - went on a gambling trip to Vegas, bought properties they used as rentals and opened four psychic shops.
Last year, Lee allegedly kept her conspiracy going by convincing Raines he was bankrupt and getting to sell up the remainder the properties in his name.
However it all came crashing down when an anonymous source notified police of suspicions they had over what was happening to Raines.
The Internal Revenue Service were then pulled into it and started building a case.
Federal agents arrested Rachel Lee and Porsha Lee at their psychic shop in Bend in May this year.
Prosecutors allege they had swapped their iPhones for disposable cells and had suitcases waiting by the door at the time of the arrest, suggesting they were trying to skip town.
Generations-old estate: Raines was the heir to Washington County logging company Raines Tree Farm
Porsha Lee also had about $40,000 cash in her underwear.
She is expected to get about three years in prison at her April 15 sentencing after pleading guilty to her charges.
She declined comment after Wednesday’s hearing before a federal judge in Portland.
Her mother, Rachel Lee, pleaded guilty in the same case last fall and will be sentenced next month.
As the mastermind, she is expected to spend seven to nine years in prison.
Both were charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud, engaging in monetary transactions in criminally deprived property, and conspiracy to commit transactional money laundering.
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Wealthy: The company was worth millions of dollars after being built up over the years and was left to Raines
The prosecutor noted that even today, with the guilty pleas, Raines believes he has a wife named Mary Marks and a son.
It is unclear whether he suffers from dementia or any other mental health difficulties.
However investigators, according to Willamette Weekly, said that Raines tried to stand up for Lees and her daughter when police informed him what had happened.
He told them he had given Lees $4 million as a gift.
This behavior is said to be common in cases like this, as the victims are often ashamed of family and friends learning what had been done to them.
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