1 Arrested in Harbor-Area Money Scam

Enrique Guerrero-Lujan thought he had his life pretty well under control.

Just 22 years old and with a good job as a tow-truck driver, he had saved $3,000. He and his 17-year-old wife, who was expecting their first child, hoped soon to buy a modest home somewhere.

But then the young couple met a fortuneteller, who warned that evil spirits would soon destroy their lives unless they came up with $10,000 in cash that could be purified in a series of prayers.

Guerrero-Lujan had given the woman $7,500 for cleansing before she packed up her act and skipped town.

“There we were, with our newborn baby,” he later recalled. “My wife cried for two days.”

On Wednesday, police arrested a woman they believe fleeced Guerrero-Lujan and dozens of other Harbor-area Latinos of tens of thousands of dollars through a money-cleansing scam.

Detectives said the woman they arrested goes by several aliases, including the single name of Rafaela, but they have tentatively identified her as Edith Vasquez, 52, a Colombian national who spent most of her life in Venezuela. Vasquez’s husband was also detained Wednesday, but detectives said they do not believe he was involved in the alleged fraud operation.

Inside the Bell Gardens apartment where they arrested her, Harbor Division detectives found $73,179 in cash and 120 pieces of valuable jewelry, including a Rolex watch. Police said they also found a ledger listing the names of apparent victims and the amounts allegedly given to her.

Police said they are looking for a second woman who operated the same scam out of her now-vacant Wilmington home.

“We suspect they have a good many victims who haven’t come forward to the police either because they’re illegal (aliens) or because they feel kind of dumb,” said Detective Jerry Anslow, who is overseeing the investigation. “I need all the help I can get finding those victims.”

Police said they believe that Vasquez has moved seven times in the last year and may have operated in Long Beach and in the Lennox area for a time.

Victims told police that a woman who called herself Rafaela and a second woman, identified only as Margarita, had distributed flyers offering their fortunetelling services at various Latino markets and shopping areas throughout the Harbor area in August.

Clients were instructed to go to the women’s homes in Wilmington, located at 1219 N. Marine Ave. and 320 Ross Place.

Police said the women then told their victims that their bad luck and illnesses were being caused by evil spirits lurking in their valuables. For a $300 fee, the women said, cash and jewelry could be cleansed of trouble with a series of prayers over several weeks. In late December, both women cleared out their apartments and disappeared.

Anslow said one of Margarita’s alleged victims reported losing $31,770. Another man said he gave the woman $18,000. Two more victims have filed complaints but have not yet revealed how much was taken.

So far, Guerrero-Lujan and one other man who lost $7,000 have come forward as victims of the woman they knew as Rafaela.

In an interview Wednesday, Guerrero-Lujan said he and his wife, Elisa, sought out Rafaela “just for the fun of it.”

During their first visit, Rafaela correctly stated that the couple were expecting their first child and that Guerrero-Lujan had once courted a short, dark girlfriend.

“She made these lucky guesses . . . but then she started talking about how these spirits wanted me crazy and my wife poor and the only way to get rid of them was to let her have $10,000 to do these prayers,” Guerrero-Lujan said.

When he said he did not have that kind of money, the woman told him that he could earn it over a period of time and deliver it to her in installments. Guerrero-Lujan alleged that he gave her the couple’s entire savings of $3,000 and later handed over $4,500 more, including $2,500 he had borrowed.

“Every time I gave it to her, I thought: ‘Oh, man, my money. . . . Why should I do it?’ ” Guerrero-Lujan said. “But something was like forcing me to go there and give it to her.”

When Guerrero-Lujan realized that Rafaela had moved, he immediately went to police.

“That was money I would have put on a loan for a home. Now my dreams of that are gone,” he said.

Guerrero-Lujan said he has spoken with some other victims who are afraid that Rafaela will use supernatural powers against them if they come forward.

“I’m not afraid of her,” he said. “It’s my money, and I suffered for it to save it. Why should I be afraid?”