Brooklyn scammer with tales of psychics and aliens slammed by Iowa AG
Joseph Meisels ordered to repay Iowa victims
A Brooklyn man engaged in a diabolical mail order-scheme was ordered to stop conning trusting Iowa residents and to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines and penalties.
The ruling doesn’t apply to the other 49 states, however, where Borough Park resident Joseph Meisels – in the guise of the International Astrology Foundation, Zoran, Steve Waters and other fictitious identities – is still free to prey on the vulnerable.
Polk County District Court Judge Douglas Staskal on Thursday ordered Meisels to refund roughly $14,000 sent in by 78 mostly elderly Iowa residents taken in by his outlandish claims. He also assessed a $20,000 penalty, under provisions of the Consumer Fraud Act.