Judge to sentence woman who spent investor money on prayers - ABC News

A Maryland investment adviser was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for defrauding investors out of millions of dollars, some of which she spent on astrological gems, cosmetic medical procedures and religious rituals in India.
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Jurors heard testimony that Bennett used investors' money to pay more than $800,000 for prayers by Hindu priests in India to ward off federal investigators while her business was collapsing. Bennett paid a man in Washington state to arrange for the rituals while she faced a Ponzi scheme investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"I am in a very very tough fight going against my enemies and I need all the help I can get," Bennett wrote in an email to Puja.net website operator Benjamin Collins.

Investigators also discovered evidence in Bennett's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, that she tried to silence SEC investigators by casting "hoodoo" spells, according to an FBI agent's affidavit. Agents found instructions for placing people under a "Beef Tongue Shut Up Hoodoo Spell" and found the initials of SEC attorneys written on the lids of Mason jars stored in Bennett's freezers, the affidavit said. Hoodoo is a set of magical or spiritual practices and beliefs with origins in West Africa.

Judge to sentence woman who spent investor money on prayers - ABC News