Salvatore Puglisi

le"Sorcier d'Andalousia"

Telefono Antiplagio floors the "Wizard of Andalusia" and the "Wizard of Darkness"

Jacqueline de Croÿ- 15 juillet 2007

ITALY - The victory occurs after a ten years fight, started when "Wizard of Andalusia", native of Frosinone and the "Wizard of Darkness", native of Catena were shown for a 93.000-euro swindle. The fight has ended last week, after a new 500.00-euro swindle.

The "wizards" caught their victims by publicity in the "Useful Pages", a telephone directory accessible by Internet and asked extravagant sums to get them rid of magic spells, or to grant them occult powers. The last victim made them 227 on line transfers for almost 250.000-euro, a multitude of cheques for 200.000-euro and 50.000-euro cash in seven years.

Occultism attracts at all levels of the society, from the most fragile to the most powerful: those who posess every thing, except the inner peace that makes it possible to be happy of little. Most of the cases are shown by members of the family, worried of seeing the assets vanishing. The income of occultism is estimated at 550 million euro per year.

As since the Roman Empire, the crystal ball continues to rule certain states and law-courts. Hitler did not take a decision without consulting his "clairvoyant", among which Eric-Jan Hanussen, accused several times for blackmail, swindle and diversion of minors. He had not expected Hitler would have him shot, for having predicted Germany would loose the war.

At present, Italy considers that gurus and clairvoyants make a trade of charlatan, which its article 121 sanctions, amongst other things by the obligation of the authorities to order the discontinuance of activity. Such as David, Antiplagio fights Goliath: the Internet portals which sell advertising spaces for an illicit trade of magic salt, pentacles, oils, ointments and other formulas, supposed to bring power, fortune, love and health. The sole Mediavideo portal, part of the Berlusconi empire, produces 200 pages of publicity praising the capacities of salesmen of dream, explains Telefono Antiplagio.

Still today, there are too many people ending-up in the hands of subjects without scruple, who grow rich while aiming on the vulnerability and the weaknesses of people, says the newspaper "It Tempo". However today still, the search engine of the Useful Pages (http://www.pagineutili.it), presents at the word "maghi" (wizard) 285 gurus, fortune-tellers and magicians of all kinds.

Ten years ago, Telefono Antiplagio, jointly with the first victim, had forwarded a complaint to the procurators of the Republic and the guard of finances of Catena, Frosinone and Cassino, as well as to the ministries for the interior and of finances, asking them to intervene for the offences that they might retain convenient to sanction. Tax authorities where not interested. It has been the antitrust law on the misleading publicity and communications that marked the end of the career of the "Wizards".