Woman stole to pay for psychics

Photo / Herald on Sunday

Beep-beep. That's the afterlife texting - an addiction that has cost a Whangarei woman thousands of dollars and a criminal sentence.

Caregiver Rosemary Cvitanovich, 47, has pleaded guilty to a string of theft and other charges after ripping off elderly people to fund an addiction to psychic hotlines.

She also stole cellphones to meet her need for inside, other-side knowledge, at $2.99 a text. Many of her victims were terminally ill or suffering from dementia.

Yesterday she said her addiction to psychic helplines led nowhere because none of their predictions were right.

"I just kept asking questions and they kept replying. I think because what they told me never came true it made me keep texting more."

Cvitanovich asked the psychics "anything and everything" that came to mind - from predictions for her love life to what she should do that weekend.

"The addiction was terrible, just like if it was drugs or alcohol or gambling or anything like that, it was awful."

It was an advertisement for a psychic line while watching TV one afternoon that was her downfall.

She began by spending $5500 of her own money on ringing or texting for advice.

"It became that I couldn't do without it. I could wake up at 2am and, because I knew they were operating, I would text them."

Then she began stealing cellphones from some of the people she cared for.

She even stole a chequebook from an 83-year-old man suffering from dementia, cashing six cheques to gain credit on her mobile phone.

Bank staff began quizzing Cvitanovich about the cheques, leading to her going to the police.

At the Whangarei District Court last week, she was sentenced to 12 months' supervision and 250 hours' community service. She had previously pleaded guilty to nine charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage, three charges of theft by a person in a special relationship, one of receiving and one of taking a document for pecuniary advantage.

She has since repaid more than $5000 in reparation and was paying the remaining $1000 in instalments.

Cvitanovich said: "I haven't sent any texts for about six months. I'm on prepay now and not being on a contract means I can't just text all the time. I only text or call my friends or work."

She limits her spending on her phone to about $20 a fortnight and is doing what she can to make it up to her victims.

"Sorry seems so inadequate. I have known these people for years and they are wonderful. Whatever I say will not be enough."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NORTHERN ADVOCATE