Here’s yet another story of a paranormal group getting into trouble because they owe money to someone. Last week we talked about a group who allegedly owed a hotel some money, and how it places ghost hunters in a precarious situation, as they are not technically corporations with legal protections. In this story, it appears as though one individual is responsible for the theft, as a ghost hunter steals $2,500. According to the group’s website, the funds were stolen by an ex-member while filling in for another team member while she was ill.
The Norristown Preservation Society is pressing charges against a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Underground Paranormal Society(PUPS), after he allegedly stole nearly $2,500 in deposits for overnight visits to the Selma Mansion.
According to the police report, Steven Foersch – a case manager with PUPS – collected $2,472 for nine overnight stays at the mansion between January and July of this year, but failed to turn the funds over to the Norristown Preservation Society. Foersch was also given $150 to have a tree removed from the Selma Mansion property by the preservation society, but the work was never done and the money was never returned, police said.
The report also states that Foersch sent a text message to his ex-girlfriend, admitting to “borrowing” the money.
Charges against Foersch will be filed, per request of the Norristown Preservation Society.
It seems as though PUPS has been diligent in ferreting out the wrongdoer here, and they appear to have the support of the Norristown Preservation Society. In this case, the group was lucky that the group as a whole wasn’t targeted by the lawsuit. Some institutions might not have been so kind, and may just have sued the group as a whole, only caring about recouping their lost profits. The issue is that now that ghost hunting is a business, in that money is changing hands for investigations, conventions, appearances, etc., paranormal groups have to start protecting themselves against this sort of thing.
