… I feel a feeling of deep despair, of uneasiness, of regret, I blame myself for having been so weak, naive, incredulous when normally I am rather Cartesian. Since this story, I have been depressed (I am under the care of a psychiatrist, I take anti-anxiety medication), I have serious sleep problems, I am anxious, stressed, overworked. My bank account is in debt every month, my savings accounts are empty, I have two consumer loans until 2012 and this is the cause of this scam. In short, I am in debt…. , added to this are big problems that also affect my children.
…. I have been divorced from my husband for many years and am the mother of three children. We had a house that my ex-husband kept. He paid me half of the estimated value (i.e. 2/3 of the market value) when the property was separated in June 2004, i.e. €68,000 which I invested…, part of this sum was used to pay the lawyer’s and notary’s fees and to buy back all the furniture, household appliances, etc. The rest of the money was used to “make ends meet” since at that time, I was in nursing school and my salary was reduced by 20%. The sum of money on the PEL was blocked for five years. I didn’t touch it.
It was during this period that I fell passionately in love with a man (married…). He promised to leave his wife (who threatened to kill me several times). And after 4 years of relationship, it was a breakup. He stays with his wife…”.
Desperate, I leaf through a free classified ads newspaper and I contact a marabout Mr M*. …
He sets up an appointment for me…. He tells me to bring a photo of my friend, mine with €50 in cash. I meet Mr M. (in a very old studio in an old district of Bordeaux. He is dressed in traditional clothing, “rosaries” in his hands. He receives me in an apartment: a carpet on the floor, dyes on the walls, candles…., ,
He tells me to take off my shoes, I sit on the carpet, he asks me for the money, then takes the photos, thinks, asks me my name, first name, date of birth as well as that of my friend, his wife, writes everything about it in a notebook..., At the same time, he says a "rosary" in his hands while reciting prayers (?). I don't understand anything about it. Then he says that he is going to consult the spirits tonight to find out if he can do the “work” namely: so that my friend can leave his wife. I have to call him back the next morning.
What I do on Sunday…. he wants €500 in cash and he explains to me that it’s for a sacrifice. He must buy sheep (one male and one female) from the slaughterhouse. I withdraw this amount (transfer from my savings account to checking account…,
I meet him again and give him the money, he counts it again. He begins to say prayers, concentrates, then tells me to stand up and close my eyes. I feel him moving around me reciting strange things, I hear the sound of “rosary beads”. Then, when it's finished, he gives me a 50cl plastic bottle filled with a brown liquid, I have to pass it all over my body in the morning and evening until there is no more (except during my period and I must not put on alcoholic perfume). He explains to me that it is like a fluid that will put me in contact with him during prayers and invocations of the spirits at night. When I finish the bottle, my friend will leavehis wife. I'm so desperate that I do whatever he tells me. He also adds that I will have my diploma and that luck will smile on me, everything will go better and better in my life.
After 15 days, I called him. Nothing happened. He's not surprised, he felt it. He has another, more important “job” to do. He wants €10,000 and in cash. Faced with my panic, he reassures me by saying that he will return the sum to me afterwards, it is a matter of 15 days to a month, but that he must do this to save me from an evil spell that my friend's wife cast on me (through someone), otherwise very serious things will happen to me. I comply. I go to the bank and not wanting to take the money from my PEL, I take out a loan of €10,000 over 5 years (5.25% interest) or €189.8 per month until 2011. I get the cash and give it to Mr M. who recounts the sum. He tells me that this time it will work. He asks me for pubic hair, hair, he puts them in an envelope with a piece of cardboard on which there are inscriptions and which I must put under my pillow tonight, then asks me to undress in order to spray myself with brown liquid; he recites prayers, incantations etc. At home, I have to apply the product to my body in the morning and evening like the first time.
A month later, still nothing, I know that my friend will not come back…., I phone Mr M… to tell him that nothing happened and that I want my money back. Seeing that I'm getting angry, he scares me by saying that the spell cast is very serious. To prove his good faith to me, he says that he will finish the job because he cannot leave me in this dramatic situation. But for this he needs to make a new sacrifice, he needs €500. I tell him I can't give them to him. So to prove his honesty to me, he says that he will make arrangements with friends. He gives me a bottle with brown liquid, dictates sentences to me which I write on a paper and which I must throw into a river according to precise instructions. This new job will free me from the curse and I will find happiness, luck, money again. He must also unspell my apartment..., by spraying certain rooms with brown liquid, by reciting prayers, incantations, etc.). he then gives me lotto numbers to play. Nothing happens...
I call him back and he tells me that my case is very complicated, that he can no longer do anything for me. I am distraught, very bad (I am in exam period, the diploma is approaching and I am more and more stressed). However, he tells me that his brother has returned to France, that he is stronger than him and that he can solve all my problems.
So I meet the real Mr M., (the classified ad is still in the free newspaper but with a change of address and landline number). The studio is newer, still the carpets on the floor, shadows, candles, incense, articles on the walls and photos of marabouts(?). he is smiling, tells me that I have the same first name as his mother, that he can do something for me, that I will be very happy in every way afterwards, lots of luck, money. My case is very special and he will take care of that, that alone will be very hard for him and I believe in it.
He needs a lotto and millionaire slip. In front of me, he puts them in an envelope, adds a box with written signs. I have to sleep with thisenvelope under my pillow, alone in my apartment because weird things are going to happen. Indeed, during the night, I hear whispers and I feel a draft, a sensation that the bed is moving; In the morning, I phone Mr M…., he tells me to open the envelope, I look at the tickets, they are checked, 5 numbers on the grids. He told me that it’s not normal, that there should have been 6 checked. He wants to see me because this is all serious.
He asks me for €9,000 in cash, “it’s important. The goal is almost achieved.” the tone is serious, ceremonious. I bring him the money (I closed codevi and account on booklet) in November 2006. he gives me a lotto and millionaire grid that he checked himself, I have to play them Wednesday, Friday and Saturday for 5 weeks and always this brown liquid to pass...
I won €35, the stake made. I see him again, he’s worried, it’s not normal, I’m distraught, he scares me. He then gives me a firmly taped glass bottle of liquid. I must put this bottle under my bed, the liquid must not escape, it would be fatal. I have to stay alone in my apartment, doors and shutters tightly closed. During the night I wake up, I feel drafts and my bed moves, I get scared and then suddenly a loud noise. I then smell a rotten egg (or something like that). It smells very bad. I turn on the light and horror! The bottle exploded. The liquid spread everywhere under the bed, the floor, the furniture. I don't dare move anymore.
The next day, I called Mr M.. Silence, then in a very serious tone told me that it was catastrophic this time. He says he has never seen this, that this is the first time this has happened; it’s death for me, my children, it’s desperate. Silence. He can do something... I have to see him that evening. (At this time of examinations, gynecological problems for me: I am waiting for the results of a breast module biopsy, the ultrasound of the uterus shows a mass and cysts on the ovaries and the thyroid is not functioning well).
…, so I’m going to the appointment. I’m in all my states, very unwell, drunk in my stomach, anxious, stressed: what if it was true? I’m scared, I’m alone, I feel very panicked.
He asks me my age, date of birth, that of my parents, my children, writes everything down in a notebook, thinks, calculates, concentrates and after a long time, he tells me that he needs €41,000 to get me out of trouble. I tell him it's not possible. He tells me that the curse will start by affecting my eldest son, that he will be very sick and that he will die if he doesn't do anything and everything is going very quickly in my head. The next day, I went to the bank and closed my PEL (a little less than €43,000 remained). the bank can only give me €25,000 in cash. … I give the money to Mr M., i.e. €25,000 in notes and €16,000 in check (photocopy attached). The check bothers him but he accepts it. Either way, he says he will return the money. I'm terrified. A month later, he called me to tell me that he had to go to Guinea to do the “job”. he wants €900 for the trip. I am definitely closing the savings accounts. He remains in Guinea for three months. He returns in…
Meanwhile…., I failed my exam…. I returned to work immediately as a caregiver for six months. I'm very tired. I take antidepressants, anxiolytics andbeta blockers I'm so stressed...
During this time, Mr. M. promises me great things over the phone, tells me that he is only dedicated to me, that he refuses any request for work, that I must be patient, that I will not regret it, that he is honest.
No longer able to "make ends meet", my overdraft is accumulating more and more..., I request a 0% loan from the clinic's CE and I negotiate for the third time with my bank, my consumer loan.
I inform Mr M. of my financial situation, he always says the same thing, even gets angry sometimes, then to prove his good faith to me; will go so far as to give me money four times: €100 in February 2008, €50 in March 2008, €100 in April 2008 and €300 in September 2008.
I am having more and more difficulty contacting him by telephone (answering machine), the appointments he gives me are always cancelled...
In September 2008, the doctor told me that my eldest son had to have surgery (he had a rare disease and suspected colon cancer...). He must have his colon and rectum removed. I am very worried. I call Mr M.. He tells me that he has to go to Guinea to finish the “work”, not to worry, he will call me, he will only be away for a month.
My son will be operated on..., but the operation will have consequences: he has an artificial anus for life. During this time, I tried in vain to call Mr M.. I only received a telephone call in January 2009 where Mr M. told me that if he had done nothing, the situation would be worse. He was angry saying that I was not patient and grateful, that he was going to great lengths for me, that he could stop work and I would see what happened and he ended the conversation by saying that I would not regret it, that he was honest and that he would not abandon me. He also says that he has to stay a little longer than expected because his father is very ill and as the eldest in the family, he has to be with him and look after him.
Every month, I try to contact him but in vain, either it's the answering machine or it's someone telling me to call back after 9 p.m. and when I do, they tell me to call back in a month or they simply don't answer....
In May 2009, a certain A. told me that he was replacing Mr. M. who is taking care of his very ill father and that he would not return for another month. In the meantime, he replaces him. He tells me that Mr. M. asks about me every day and that he explained “my case” to him. Mr A. told me that he could continue the “work”, resolve the situation etc.…
... I feel a feeling of fear, I don't live, I survive on a daily basis, a lump in my stomach, stressed, anxious, no plans. I wonder how I could have put myself in such a situation. I have completely lost self-confidence and I am sometimes afraid of reprisals from Mr. M. if I file a complaint, but afterwards, I tell myself that I have nothing to lose….
Laura
Poitiers
- the name of the marabout has been obscured because Laure, whose name has been replaced by a pseudonym, is about to file a complaint.
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