A Washington woman proclaimed to her friend that she was a prophetess, and bilked the friend out of $100,000 in just a little over a month. The alleged scammer told her friend that one of her ancestors had
committed a murder and paying the money would help her ‘get right with the Lord,’ according to police.
Sandra Lee Allen, 54, claimed that Elizabeth Hughes needed to catch up on ten years of back tithes and then pay it forward by tithing ten years into the future.
Allen coupled that story with another apocalyptic story about how the Lord told her an earthquake was coming and that Hughes would lose her son in the disaster if she didn’t pay up.
Allen claimed that she was using $100k to build her ministry, but instead she bought a Jaguar X-Type and spent in excess of $30,000 per month at stores like Nordstrom, Coach, and Best Buy.
Mrs. Hughes says the money she gave Allen was to make up for the sins of her forefathers, and that she emptied her husband’s savings accounts and borrowed money from her children to pay Allen.
Hughes began by giving Allen checks, but Allen later told her that God only took cash.
Mrs. Hughes never told her husband about the money because she says she knew he wouldn’t agree to it. She estimates that she gave the fake prophetess approximately $93,000. Allen also claimed she was close friends with Juanita Bynum. She has been charged with fraud and is awaiting trial.
