A woman who calls herself a psychic failed to predict she would get arrested this week on fraud charges. A judge issued the warrant in Rockville, Maryland, but she was operating in New York City when they arrested her. Police arrested a 35-year-old named Erica Ufie near her psychic office, Sunnyside Psychic, in Queens, New York.
She will have a hearing in New York for extradition back to Maryland to face these charges. Ufie’s arrest was possible thanks to Bob Nygaard, a private investigator specializing in identifying and arresting fraudulent psychics. One of Ufie’s victims from Rockville, Maryland, hired him. The 53-year-old victim states Ufie scammed her out of over $77,000.
Nygaard took the victim’s information and tracked her down in New York. “I sent in an operative into the location to verify she was there,” Nygaard said. Once sure the woman inside the psychic office building was Ufie, he followed her to a $0.99 store and contacted the police. At that point, he’d been looking for her for about seven months.
Police Aren’t Always As Responsive As Nygaard Would Like
“To be honest, the New York City Police Department- I had a rough time getting them to make the arrest,” recalls Nygaard. He also states that he stayed on the phone with Rockville police while following Ufie around. The police finally agreed to arrest Ufie and apprehend her inside the store in Queens. Nygaard recorded the entire arrest.
“You go in to do some shopping, and you come out with silver bracelets from the NYPD on your wrists. It’s not paradise,” he says. Unfortunately, Nygaard believes scamming psychics is a growing nationwide problem. “It’s an epidemic all across this country,” he says. “People are being emotionally abused and financially decimated at alarming rates, and the loss is astronomical.”
Nygaard retired from the police force and is a current National Association of Bunco Investigators member. Since his retirement, he’s been working on psychic cases. Some psychics he brought down have scammed victims out of up to $900,000!
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Also operating in Maryland is New York psychic ‘Kourtney’ who scammed $ 5,000.00 from victim in Annapolis by promising to lift curse placed on wife. Kourtney, photo included, used high pressure tactics to lure merchant into believing that a curse had been placed on his wife and then repeatedly asked for money with nothing to show. May have left the Maryland area but operates in New York. You have been warned. Email me for photo and M.O.
Thanks for the heads up Gustavo!