A woman who offered her services as a psychic in Bend and other Oregon cities pleaded guilty Tuesday to initiating an elaborate scheme to cheat a man and his elderly father out of millions of dollars, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Oregon.

Over the course of 10 years, Rachel Lee, 43, of Canby, and several of her family members persuaded a Gaston man to hand over control of his finances, and then they used the money for big-ticket purchases, according to an indictment filed against Lee and her three co-defendants in U.S. District Court in May.

Lee was arrested in Bend in June with her bags packed and $40,000 stashed in her underwear, according to Bulletin archives.

The victim, Ralph Raines Jr., owned a 1,200-acre farm with his father near Gaston, a rural community southwest of Portland, according to Bulletin archives.

Lee met Raines in 2004 and began caring for his ailing father, Ralph Raines Sr., after he had a stroke in 2006. Over time, she gained access to the family’s business operations and bank accounts.

Lee and her relatives told Raines that he needed to sell the farm to pay inheritance taxes. Lee and her co-defendants collected more than $12 million from the sale of most of the property after Ralph Raines Sr. died in 2011.

The indictment alleges that to pull off the sale of the farm, Rachel Lee’s daughter, Porsha Lee, dressed up in a blond wig and heavy makeup and pretended that she was an illegal immigrant from England who wanted to marry Ralph Raines Jr. for a green card.

The Lees used the money obtained from the liquidation of the Raines’ assets to purchase properties — including the psychic shop on Northeast Third Street in Bend — and to buy luxury cars and vacations.

They were in the process of transferring the money out of accounts they shared with Raines to gain sole control of the assets, according to the U.S. attorney.

Lee pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and criminal failure to file personal income taxes. She has been ordered to pay full restitution and will serve between 87 and 108 months in prison, according to the terms of her plea agreement.

Lee is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 20.

— Reporter: 541-383-0376, cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com