UPDATED::Psychic arrested for scamming clients out of more than $800K

UPDATE:: New York psychic appears in court charged with swindling a dozen victims out of more than $1 MILLION, including a Canadian woman 'she took $740k from, insisting it would be used to buy gold coins that would be placed in a temple to protect her from danger'

A New York fortune teller accused of swindling a dozen 'vulnerable' clients out of more than $1 million across a five year period appeared in a Manhattan court on Friday, as prosecutors pursue a litany of fraud charges.

Looking more morose than mystic, shamed clairvoyant Ann Thompson, 42, solemnly emerged from the holding room of the Manhattan Supreme Court, dressed in a grey tank-top with her hair scraped back.

Thompson last appeared in court in August, where she pleaded not guilty to 17 counts, including scheme to defraud, grand larceny, and forgery, in relation to complaints made by 12 of her former clients.

Prosecutors say she touted herself as a renowned psychic medium and advertised readings for five dollars, operating out of the storefront 'Psychic Zoe' on West 35th Street, near Seventh Avenue.

A self-proclaimed psychic in Midtown has been arrested for allegedly conning at least two vulnerable out-of-town clients out of more than $800,000 over the last five years, The Post has learned.

Ann Thompson, 42, who operated her years-long supernatural scheme under the name “Psychic Zoe” out of the second-story of a W. 35th building near Seventh Avenue, was finally nabbed Wednesday morning on charges of grand larceny, scheming to defraud and fortune-telling, authorities said.

Thompson, who represented herself as a renowned psychic medium and advertised $5 readings, told her victims they “needed to provide her with funds for a spiritual protection plan to ensure that family members would be protected,” an NYPD spokeswoman said.

Psychic arrested for scamming clients out of more than $800K

‘Psychic’ gets federal prison time after swindling Houston woman of $1.6M - HoustonChronicle.com

A Florida woman who claimed to be a psychic healer with a direct line to God was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison after she swindled a woman she met at the Galleria into giving her more than $1.6 million to lift a curse.

Sherry Tina Uwanawich, 29, the proclaimed Gypsy healer, relocated to Fort Lauderdale where investigators caught up with her in a wire fraud scheme that dated back to 2007. Last week, Uwanawich, who sold her services under the name Jacklyn Miller, was sentenced by a federal judge to 40 months in prison plus three years of supervised release.

At her plea hearing in June, she told U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz she had God-given powers to ward off curses and had witnessed curses removed, according to her lawyer Jim Lewis. She also admitted at that hearing to an elaborate scheme to take more than a million dollars from a woman she considered a friend.

‘Psychic’ gets federal prison time after swindling Houston woman of $1.6M - HoustonChronicle.com

UPDATED::So-called psychic arrested at Miami International Airport on...

UPDATE::  ‘Just outrageous:’ Maryland psychic cons $341,000 from five clients

Marks also employed up-to-date techniques. Phone “spoofing” enabled her to make calls that appeared to be coming from a different phone number than the one she was using. Using that ruse, prosecutors said, Marks was able to tell a client her ex-boyfriend would call at a precise time — warning the client she was not to answer it — and the client would indeed see the ex’s phone number pop up on her phone screen at the exact predicted time.

“It just seems like that’s the worst of the worst, when you prey on people when they were down,” Circuit Judge John Maloney told Marks at the conclusion of the case on Friday, when he sentenced her to six years in prison. “That is just outrageous.”

Nationwide, consulting with fortune tellers and psychics is fairly common. Nearly 1 in 7 Americans say they have done so, according to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

UPDATE::  Maryland 'Psychic' Convicted of Scamming Clients Out of $340K

A Maryland woman who said she was a psychic and scammed customers out of $340,000 to cure them of "curses" pleaded guilty Friday to multiple counts of felony theft. 

Gina Marie Marks, who identified herself as Natalie Miller in her meetings with clients, stole from five people who sought her help over the course of more than two years. 

Marks said Friday that she would return all of the payments she received. She walked out of court in Montgomery County with her husband, who wrapped a coat over her head.

She was adamant that her services are legitimate and she really is a psychic.

The world of psychic fraud gets a bit twisted as alias use is prominent.  I believe Marks has been then subject of a few postings here on H&C as well as FB.

Marks, a twice-convicted swindler and author of the book "Miami Psychic," was minutes from boarding a flight to Barcelona on Thursday at Miami International Airport when two Miami-Dade police officers introduced themselves and took her aside

"They informed her she had a warrant for her arrest and, at that moment, it was like the end of the world. It was total shock on her face," private investigator Bob Nygaard said.

Marks, a self-described gypsy priestess, was wanted in Maryland on a grand theft warrant, alleging she'd ripped off $82,000 from a woman who believed she had psychic power.

It was the victim's private investigator, Nygaard, who tracked Marks down at the airport and arranged for police to make the arrest. 

So-called psychic arrested at Miami International Airport on...

Psychic Arrested For Conning Woman Out Of $62K For 'Demon Removal Work': Gothamist

Starting in September 2013, the 35-year-old victim started seeing "Psychic Lisa," a.k.a. 39-year-old Victoria Nicholes. The victim was experiencing marital difficulties at the time, and Nicholes allegedly convinced her that if she didn't get rid of the "demon," the victim's husband would leave her for a younger woman whom the victim suspected he was having an affair with. If the "demon" wasn't removed, the victim would never be able to sustain another romantic relationship for the rest of her life.

According to private investigator Bob Nygaard, who has had plenty of experience with similar fraud cases, Nicholes told the victim she was doing "God's work" and needed to perform rituals in furtherance of the alleged "demon removal work" at an "altar" at a mysterious church which the victim never saw and wasn't allowed to visit.

First Nicholes allegedly said she'd need $33K in cash ($1K for each year of her age) for special candles and crystals to be used in the cleansing ceremony. Then she allegedly asked for a Rolex Daytona Everose watch with a black dial (valued at $30K) because (here we go) it would be used as part of a ritual that would "spring back time" to before the victim was born, thereby allowing her to remove the demon.

If the victim told anyone about the "demon removal work," the work would fail.

Psychic Arrested For Conning Woman Out Of $62K For 'Demon Removal Work': Gothamist

Police: Psychic cheats local woman of $77,000, fails to foresee arrest - WTOP

A self-described psychic telling fortunes in New York City apparently failed to foresee her arrest on a warrant from Rockville, Maryland, charging her with fraud.

Erica Ufie, 35, was arrested Friday near “Sunnyside Psychic” parlor in Queens, where she worked. She will face an extradition hearing in New York, according to Rockville Police Lt. Brian Paul.

Ufie was tracked down by a private investigator hired by a 53-year-old Rockville woman, who accuses the fortune-teller of defrauding her of more than $77,000.

“I sent in an operative into the location to verify she was there,” says Bob Nygaard, a private investigator who specializes in the identification and apprehension of fortune-tellers who engage in fraud.

From the Washington post,

The psychic, Shanice Bell, was taken into custody Oct. 2 in Queens, Rockville police announced Thursday.

Police said Bell, also known as “Psychic Gina” and “Erica Ufie,” ran a fortunetelling business out of a Rockville home in the 200 block of Twinbrook Parkway. Over a period of six months, authorities said, Bell convinced a 53-year-old woman that she had been cursed at birth but that the bad fortune could be lifted by cash and gift cards.

Bell told the victim that without the “curse removal work” harm would come to her and to her family, police said in a press release. From October 2014 to March, police said, the woman gave Bell more than $77,000 in cash and property. When she later demanded that Bell return the money and goods, Bell left Maryland, authorities said.

Police: Psychic cheats local woman of $77,000, fails to foresee arrest - WTOP