Case Against Psychic Accused Of Bilking Lacoste Clothing Heiress Moves Forward
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - A Boulder judge says there is probable cause in the felony theft case against a psychic accused of stealing $200,000 from Lacoste clothing heiress and University of Colorado student Victoria Lacoste.
At a preliminary hearing Monday, Judge David Archuleta concluded there was enough probable cause to move the case forward against Becky Ann Lee, 32, of Boulder. She's due back in court for an arraignment on March 25, at 8:15 a.m.
A Boulder police detective testified that she began her investigation in August 2015 after hearing from Lacoste's parents, who said their daughter had been asking for large sums of money and that behavior was out of character for her.
The detective said at first, Lacoste resisted the investigation, but then became "humiliated" when the detective showed her pawn receipts indicating Lee and her husband, Christopher Marks, had sold 120 gold coins, pocketing $143,000.
Lacoste met Lee in May 2014 when she walked into Lee's downtown shop for a Tarot card reading. Lacoste began paying Lee for Chakra balancing work, according to police, to "rid evil spirits from her body," and the two women developed a friendship. Lacoste confided in Lee, and eventually referred to Lee as her "mother in Colorado," the detective said.
Investigators say Lee told Lacoste she needed to buy and give her coins to "do work" and that she kept the coins at her chapel in Longmont. They also allege Lee encouraged Lacoste to set up a joint bank account, through which Lee stole $200,000 worth of coins and money from Lacoste.
Lee's defense attorney, Harvey Steinberg, argued Lee and Marks were in the pawn business of selling coins long before Lee met Lacoste, and that Lacoste knowingly and willingly gave Lee the coins she had purchased. In asking the judge to find no probable cause, Steinberg said: "Just because you have a rich and powerful family on one side, who seems to be able to push the Boulder Police Department to do whatever they want, that's not enough."
Lauren DiSpirito is CBS4's Northern Newsroom reporter. Follow her on Twitter @CBS4Lauren. Share your story ideas with her here.
