Iowa Wins Settlement in Alleged Psychic Mail Scam

Iowa Public Radio/June 22, 2016

By Sarah Boden

A New Jersey man and his companies have agreed to pay $45,000 to the state of Iowa in the settlement of an alleged psychic mail scam.

Timothy Clements owns both TCA Mailing Inc. and T. Clements & Associates Inc. The state of Iowa suspects these companies marketed to and billed at least one Iowan in a psychic services scam.

Iowans received mailings from a psychic named Josef von Jalen, who promised to help them with their “money-winning karma” for free. But then a demand for payment was sent in the mail.

“The mailings look personalized. They make outlandish claims. In fact one of the claims is, it’s a given certainty that you’ll win a very large sum of money,” says Geoff Greenwood of the Iowa Attorney General’s office. “This is the type of scheme that will attract someone who is either not well, they may have Alzheimer’s, or they may simply just be an older person who is lonely.”

Clements’s attorney, Adam Zenor, says the settlement does not mean his client is guilty.  

“The state’s allegations were denied and remain unproven,” says Zenor. “The fact is the agreed in writing that the settlement is not admission of wrongdoing.”

Because the companies shipped their records overseas, it’s not known how many Iowans gave money to von Jalen. People are encouraged to contact the AG if they think they have been deceived.

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