Con gullible victims out of thousands with heart-rending tales of illness, get prison sentence, get Netflix series. The most recent trickster felon Belle Gibson is star of Apple Cider Vinegar. A wellness guru, she falsely claimed to have been diagnosed with multiple cancer pathologies, including malignant brain cancer, which she said she was effectively managing through diet, exercise, natural medicine, and alternative medicine therapies.
Born 8 October 1991 in Tasmania, Australia, she has a Libra Sun (Moon) exactly square Neptune North Node in Capricorn. Her Uranus Neptune in Capricorn is also square Mercury in Libra. A superficially charming Jupiter Venus in Virgo would make her good at selling her wares. Her evasive, smokescreening Neptune is ultra-strong amplified by the Uranus Neptune tendency to become obsessive. And an unaspected Pluto, according to Tierney can cause the individual to become ‘overshadowed by their shadows.’ Plus she had Saturn in Aquarius which as well as giving a scientific bent can also be emotionally cold.
There are several high-profile swindlers born around the same time. Anna Sorokin, 23 January 1991, a fraudster who posed as a wealthy heiress, is a Sun Aquarius in an overly expansive opposition to Jupiter in Leo (= wanting a flash lifestyle without any effort). Plus a seductively persuasive Venus in Aquarius square Pluto. And Uranus Neptune in Capricorn conjunct Mercury; with Mercury inconjunct Jupiter.
Sam Bankman-Fried, 5 March 1992 9.51 am Stanford, California, a crypto-fraudster, is a Sun Pisces opposition Jupiter; with the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn on the midpoint of a mini-Grand Trine of Sun trine Pluto. Very much of his generation. He also had a hard Mars, Saturn, Venus in Aquarius square Pluto.
The three above all had a North Node in Capricorn.
Simon Leviev, 27 September 1990, Israel, theft and forgery, starred in Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler. He was a Sun Libra trine Mars, and sextile Jupiter in Leo conjunct South Node – charming, confident and opportunistic. His Sun was square Uranus Neptune in Capricorn; and his Uranus Neptune were on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Jupiter sextile Mars. His North Node in Aquarius opposes his Jupiter which might suggest his taste in extravagances pulls him back onto his primitive side.
Another health confidence trickster Amanda Riley, 24 June 1985, San Jose, California, was a Christian blogger, who attracted money and gifts for her piteous tales of suffering from cancer which she didn’t have and led to her conviction. ABC News Studios has her story in a four-part docuseries “Scamanda. She is a Sun and Mars in Cancer opposition Neptune and trine Pluto. She also has a Fixed T Square of indulgent Venus in Taurus exactly conjunct her North Node opposition Saturn in Scorpio square Jupiter in Aquarius.
Elizabeth Holmes, 3 February 1984 Washington, DC was a fraud of a different order, a bio-tech entrepreneur who inflated claims about her blood-testing company and ended up convicted. She is a Sun Aquarius square a ruthless Mars Saturn in Scorpio; with a high-finance, overly optimistic Neptune Jupiter in Sagittarius. With a superficially charming Venus Jupiuter conjunction.
Not surprisingly Neptune is prominent throughout, and amongst the recent batch, close to Uranus. Neptune is a dream weaver, good at concocting fantasies. Uranus adds inventiveness and perhaps the use of modern technology with blogs etc. Charm clearly helps in cons so Venus Jupiter is not unexpected and heavily aspected Jupiter as well in its quest to gain for something for nothing. There is a recurrence of Aquarius through these charts – perhaps the emotional detachment of Aquarius helps when fleecing others. And I have known several Aquarians who were real hustlers so it is not always humanitarian, one-for-all and all-for-one in action.
Thank you for the post. Something that pops out, besides the Neptune, is how the Sun sign affect the field the grifters grift. For Belle Gibson, the Sun in Libra is very telling of her internet presence, and the same for Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev, who drew his victims with lavish Instagram account. When the blog became a thing, I noticed disproportionate number of bloggers at least here in Finland being Libra Suns.
Also, Amanda Wilkes’ Cancer Sun does tie to organized religion/churches.
“Sam Bankman-Fried, 5 March 1992 9.51 am Stanford, California, a crypto-fraudster, is a Sun Pisces opposition Jupiter; with the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn on the midpoint of a mini-Grand Trine of Sun trine Pluto. Very much of his generation. He also had a hard Mars, Saturn, Venus in Aquarius square Pluto”
In one of those curious astro coincidences another famous fraudster, Charles Ponzi, was also an early March Pisces – 3rd March, 1882. Ponzi schemes, where early investors are paid fake interest from the capital acquired from later investors, are named after him. His Pisces Sun was conjunct Venus for added slippery smoke-and-mirrors charm. They oppose Uranus at 16 Virgo, and sextile Neptune at 14 Taurus. Perhaps a similar feeling to SBF’s 17 and 18 Capricorn Uranus and Neptune sextile his Pisces Sun? Made me think of Uranus as The Magician in Holst’s The Planets…..now you see it, now you don’t!
Ponzi had a Taurus stellium – Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, Chiron plus his Descendant. Pluto in Taurus squares a retrograde Mercury in Aquarius and Black Moon Lilith in Leo. Like SBF, Ponzi has Pluto in his 7th house – wealthy or would-be wealthy ‘partners’?
Ponzi’s Pluto, 27 Taurus, happens to be conjunct Sam B-F’s Ascendant.
Synonyms for fraud are Bilk and Swindle. In Jim Bakker’s chart, these
fraud indicators both aspect his Neptune, another indicator for fraud.
jim’s 9th House of Church is involved.
https://ibb.co/NgyTWJtD
Fascinating. All charts have busy 10th houses too. Thanks for the post.
I also share Elizabeth Holmes mars conjunct Saturn in Scorpio in 6th house
Omg!! And the Uranus -Neptune Capricorn. same year 84.
@Sarah, I think houses are this way due to lack of valid TOB for these people.
Oh yes of course. Haha
Thank you, Marjorie. The podcast, ‘Scamanda’ is very good on Amanda Riley, who not only faked her illnesses and defrauded her fellow mega church worshippers, but rewarded the kind person who took her in and cared for her by having an affair with her husband and turning her own children against her – a truly cruel, wicked individual.
Sylvia Browne, the American author and self-proclaimed psychic who claimed that she could talk to God is of a much older generation, but she also had a T-Square on Jupiter/NN, part of a stellium along with Moon and Ceres in Sagittarius, with a Virgoan Mars/Neptune conjunction which opposes Saturn in Pisces and trines Uranus in Taurus She has a seductive Scorpio Venus on her Midheaven and an 8th house Libra Sun. Libra likes the finer things of life alright, so it is unsurprising it crops up in the above charts.
Oh, and she has an Aquarius ascendant.
@Virgoflake, I remember listening to “Scamanda” podcast on holiday 2023. Really well done work, indeed. There’s now an ABC docuseries on the events, not yet available on the streaming services at least here in Finland, but I’d expect this happen. I think the add on is that it gives faces to some of the people involved.
Interesting to see the stelliums in these charts Marjorie, thank you. Jupiter is interesting too, since Zeus/Jupiter was also a kind of shape-shifting con-man when it came to seducing all and sundry!
I looked at famous con-man Victor Lustig’s planets – there’s no birth time for him. Victor pretended to be an Austrian count, and managed to ‘sell’ the Eiffel Tower, amongst other enormous, and temporarily successful swindles. He eventually ended up in Alcatraz at the end of his life. His date of birth is 4th January, 1890. Sun conjunct Jupiter, opposing Black Moon Lilith and Chiron. Said to be multi-lingual, he had Neptune in Gemini conjunct Pluto – the power of language? – forming a yod with Venus in Capricorn sextile Mars in Scorpio. Possibly some rather chilly, potent charm there? Neptune and Pluto are also square Saturn in meticulous Virgo. To be a successful swindler, Victor advised people to be tidy, and never get drunk – maybe that’s Saturn in Virgo surfacing.
His stelliums were: Sun, Jupiter, Venus, South Node (and probably Mercury) in Capricorn
Moon, Neptune, Pluto in Gemini
There’s no fire.