Miss Cleo a fraud?
Persons who responded to the patois-type “Call me now” command of popular psychic Miss Cleo will have to look elsewhere to have their cards read. Her late-night infomercials, which have reportedly earned millions of dollars, have been pulled from the cable television circuit in North America pending investigations of fraud.
In a story published March 14 in the Fort Lauderdale daily newspaper, the Sun-Sentinel, it was reported that Miss Cleo is not Jamaican as projected by the Psychic Readers Network which promotes the infomercials.
Indeed, her birth certificate which was obtained by the Attorney General’s Offices, showed that she is as American as apple pie.
“We sought this document because the company has gone to great lengths to say that Miss Cleo is a master shaman from Jamaica,” David Aronberg, an assistant attorney-general, was quoted as saying in the Sun-Sentinel. “This would contradict the whole validity of who Miss Cleo is.”
According to the birth paper, Miss Cleo is actually Youree Dell Harris, born in Los Angeles to parents from California and Texas. There is no evidence of her having any Jamaican link.
In February, the Attorney-General’s office and the Federal Trade Commission sued Access Resource Services (parent company for the Psychic Readers Network) charging that they deceived customers who paid US$5 per minute for Miss Cleo to look into their future.
According to the Sun-Sentinel story, William Cone Jnr, the lawyer representing Miss Cleo, is contending that the birth certificate is not a genuine article.
Though Miss Cleo is not likely to be seen on any medium for some time, it is unlikely that she will do prison time.
“That’s not an issue at the moment. I’d be surprised if it ever came to that,” Mitch Lipka, the Sun-Sentinel’s consumer reporter who wrote the story, told All Woman.
Lipka says the Access Resource Service has been in existence for many years, though it has been known by different names. At one time, one of its hosts was actor Phillip Michael Thomas, former star of the popular television crime series, Miami Vice.
