Chicago Psychic Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Victim of $72,000
A woman who worked as a “psychic” at three Lakeview storefronts has pleaded guilty to defrauding a customer by promising to remove a curse from the victim for $72,000. Jennifer Williams, 51, entered her plea on a charge of theft by deception and received a two-year probation sentence from Judge Shelley Sutker-Dermer. During her sentencing hearing last week, she paid the victim $25,000 in restitution, officials said.
Private investigator Bob Nygaard worked the case and said the victim thought Williams’ sentence was a “slap on the wrist.” The woman had lost $74,669.10 in payments to Williams and other expenses incurred during the scam, he said.
Prosecutors said Williams, working as an “alleged psychic fortune teller,” tricked a 21-year-old Edgewater woman into believing that she was under a curse. Williams convinced the woman to remove the curse by giving Williams large sums of cash that Williams was supposed to “cleanse and return to the victim,” according to court filings.
The woman gave Williams a total of $72,200 for “cleansing,” but Williams never gave it back, according to initial allegations.
Nygaard said Williams worked at three storefronts near Belmont and Broadway. Prosecutors listed two of those locations as the addresses where the victim was scammed. All three storefronts have long featured neon signs promoting psychic services.
Nygaard said Williams claimed she had the supernatural power to remove a “curse” that plagued the victim and her family members. Over time, Williams convinced the woman to transfer tens of thousands of dollars to an associate via Zelle and Venmo. Nygaard explained that Williams was supposed to remove the curse from the money and return it to the victim, but the victim only received $300 back.
