TORONTO, Ont. – A 40-year-old Mississauga man charged last month with pretending to practise witchcraft is now facing additional charges.
Gustavo Valencia was arrested Tuesday after other alleged victims came forward.
Police allege an elderly Montreal couple was defrauded of $13,000 on Nov. 28, and a Hamilton couple was defrauded of $7,800 between June and October.
Investigators say a man used rituals to convince his victims that they were cursed and offered to remove the curse for money.
Gomez faces charges that include pretending to practise witchcraft, fraud over $5,000, and possession of the proceeds of crime.
According to police, Gomez advertises his services as a healer in Toronto, Mississauga, London, Ont., and Montreal.
Police believe there may be more victims in Ontario and Quebec.
Last month, police charged Gomez after a 56-year-old woman was defrauded of $14,000.
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Who is to say he was pretending? Ask those people if demons still haunt them. Next thing to do is on Dec 22 2012 we should charge all those people who said the world is going to end. LMAO
Or in gods or other supernatural hocus pocus. But I still feel bad for them.
There are many people out there same as HEALING service. In Brampton he doesn’t have his own office, but inside the chiropractic office conducting a same service and collecting so much money.
hahaha i dont feel bad for those victims at all. how stupid do you have to be to believe in witchcraft. lol
Fraud. If he performed the “service” of removing demons, didn’t he fulfill the terms of his contract/agreement? Just because witchcraft is not a recognized religion doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he’s doing and offering bogus services. People give tens of thousands of dollars to churches and not-for-profit organizations what don’t have a proven outcome either.
But, practicing religion is not against the law. Pretending to practice whitchcraft is. It’s a federal law. For him to not be convcted of it, he must prove the demons exist and he did something to remove it. Which he will not be able to do.