Trio Charged in Md. Fortunetelling Scheme

Police Say Montgomery Woman Paid Thousands to Have 'Curse' Removed

Christine Kelly Miller, charged with fortunetelling, theft and conspiracy. (Montgomery County Police Departm - Montgomery County Police Department)

The fortuneteller offered to quash an ancient curse that plagued Linli Mckay and her family with the help of an egg and dollar bills galore.

Montgomery County authorities say Mckay's real curse was her happenstance meeting with the Chevy Chase fortuneteller at a mall last January.

Their subsequent relationship, which authorities say bilked Mckay, 56, of Poolesville, out of more than $75,000, has landed the 60-year-old fortuneteller, her husband and one of their daughters in court. They are charged with theft, conspiracy and fortunetelling.

Fortunetelling for profit is a violation of Maryland law.

Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Carol Crawford said the fortuneteller, Grace Uwanawich, almost certainly will face additional charges as detectives learn more about her work.

Montgomery County District Court Judge Louis D. Harrington released Uwanawich and her daughter, Christine Kelly Miller, 26, on $75,000 bonds yesterday, despite Crawford's concern that they were likely to flee the state and prevent other potential victims from contacting authorities.

George Uwanawich, 52, was not released because authorities are investigating whether he violated the terms of his release on probation in a South Florida drug case.

Relatives of the defendants and two attorneys representing the family declined to comment after the bond hearing.

Police said Grace Uwanawich met Mckay last January at Lake Forrest Mall. According to investigators, Grace Uwanawich presented herself as a Native American palmist and psychic with more than 30 years of experience who provided services worldwide, and Mckay made an appointment to see the fortuneteller at her Connecticut Avenue apartment.

Authorities said Grace Uwanawich told Mckay that she and her family had a curse "dating back to the building of the Great Wall of China." Mckay, who is of Chinese descent, was told the curse, which she inherited from her mother, would keep everyone in her family indefinitely unhappy and poor. Attempts to reach Mckay were unsuccessful.

Grace Uwanawich said her services were free, but she requested that Mckay bring her all her money so it could be taken to a church to "clean it of bad spirits," and then it would be returned to her, police said.

According to a charging document, the fortuneteller gave Mckay a candle to burn at home and told her to put an egg under her bed before going to sleep. Mckay brought the egg back the next meeting, and the fortuneteller wrapped it in a handkerchief and cracked it.

"Mckay smelled a bad odor and observed that the egg contained hair and something that she described as looking like a chicken liver," Detective Brandon Mengedoht wrote in the court document. "Grace stated that it was from her curse and that it was the devil."

Mckay was asked to liquidate her bank accounts, police said. She sold her stocks and borrowed $55,000 from her sister, police said. Mckay also was asked to use her American Express card to pick up the tab for a $3,098 Saks Fifth Avenue gift certificate, $8,119 in Cartier jewelry and $1,900 in items from Hermes, according to the police document.

Police said she also was asked to buy a 2006 Mercedes-Benz, which she was told she would be able to drive once the curse was lifted. She never got in the car, which was found parked in front of the Connecticut Avenue apartment.

When Mckay ran out of cash, Grace Uwanawich asked her to sell her house, police said. Mckay said she could not do so because she lived with relatives.

Crawford, the prosecutor, said yesterday that detectives recently learned from another victim that shortly after the Jan. 11 arrest of the three family members, one of the couple's daughters called the second victim to tell her that Grace Uwanawich had been assaulted while cleansing her curse. The victim was told not to turn on the television or touch the phone, Crawford said.