In Italy, a mystic is suspected of deceiving hundreds by claiming that the Virgin Mary statue shed bloody tears.

Gisella Cardia faces the risk of prosecution after a DNA test proved that the blood belonged to her.

According to a report by The Guardian, Gisella Cardia, who also claimed that the statue communicated with her, was declared a fraud by the Roman Catholic Church last year, prompting stricter rules on supernatural events. Prosecutors in the port city of Civitavecchia opened their own fraud investigation into Cardia in 2023 after a special investigator claimed that the blood on the statue placed in a glass box on a hill overlooking Lake Bracciano in Trevignano Romano near Rome came from a pig. Some individuals alleged that they were deceived by Cardia, who set up a foundation to collect donations under the guise of establishing a center for sick children. According to Corriere della Sera, prosecutors requested laboratory tests from forensic genetic expert Emiliano Giardina, who worked on the case of the murdered teenager Yara Gambirasio in 2010. The tests, completed on Thursday, reportedly linked the blood stains to Cardia’s genetic profile.

The results are expected to be delivered to prosecutors on February 28. Cardia’s lawyer, Solange Marchignoli, claimed that the presence of Cardia’s DNA does not rule out a supernatural event. Marchignoli stated to Corriere, “The DNA trace requires further investigation. We are waiting to find out if it is a mix or a single profile.” While it may seem evident that the traces of Cardia’s DNA would be found due to “kissing and touching” the statue, Marchignoli argued that this DNA could have mixed with other DNA samples, possibly even the Virgin Mary’s DNA. “Who can say? Do you know Madonna’s DNA?” she added. Cardia, who had previously been convicted of bankruptcy fraud, purchased the statue from a Catholic pilgrimage site in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 2016. The statue then became the centerpiece of the pilgrimage center she established in Trevignano Romano, attracting worshippers from all over Italy for monthly prayers. Cardia was reported to have left Trevignano, but her current whereabouts are unknown. Marchignoli said, “I do not know where she is praying now, but I know that she acts with deep faith and with no ulterior motives.”