OCALA, Fla. – Authorities say a Jasper man afraid to tell his wife how he lost $8,000 told deputies that he had been robbed.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office reports that 27-year-old Mario Oscar Carlos told authorities Friday that he had been robbed at gunpoint while exiting the highway. But when investigators pushed Carlos for details, his story changed.
Carlos told detectives that he gave a Sarasota spiritual healer $8,000 to have it blessed. The healer told him to roll up the money and put it in a white tube sock, but then the healer secretly switched the sock for one with about 50 singles. Carlos discovered the scam on the drive home.
Carlos was charged with false report of a crime. He was being held on $500 bail.
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