A woman accused of defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims by performing "curse removals" and "spiritual cleanings" will remain behind bars over fears she could flee the country.
Maria Williams was stopped at Sydney Airport with a one-way international ticket in August, along with her co-accused husband Larry Williams and sister Tina Montana.
The group, who at the time had been under surveillance by investigators for a month, told authorities they were moving to live permanently in the United Kingdom.
Justice Julia Lonergan denied Williams bail at a NSW Supreme Court hearing on Friday, citing past convictions for fraud offences and an alleged habit of jurisdiction-hopping in Australia.
"She's a fraud and a liar ... that's the problem isn't it," the judge said.
The 47-year-old is facing allegations including that she obtained a dishonest financial advantage by performing "spiritual cleansings".
Williams allegedly also managed to defraud victims out of nearly $300,000, dating back more than two decades, by charging for "curse removals".
"It seems to me, against a background of demonstrated fraud and manipulation … what I'm dealing with here is a woman of substantial skill and ability and front in the arts of lying and manipulation," Justice Lonergan said.
"Because of that, I have a real concern that the applicant will direct some of her energy to avoiding appearing in court."
Her lawyer William Brewer argued the systems in place to track people travelling overseas would prevent her from leaving Australia, even if she wanted to.
"I'm not as confident as Mr Brewer is about the infallibility of those systems," Justice Lonergan replied.
"It happens. People do leave."
The court was also told that in the days following Williams' arrest, police were contacted by a man named Michael Sterio who identified himself as the "king of the gypsies".
Sterio claimed to be a private investigator tracking the alleged crimes of the Williams family and offered to enter into a partnership with detectives to assist their probe.
It was established shortly after the man was in fact Williams' uncle and was allegedly providing false information at her direction, the court was told.
Larry Williams is due to appear in court on February 26, while Montana is scheduled to appear on March 4.
Both face fraud-related charges.
