Manhattan fortune teller Pamela Ufie, 29, stands accused of swindling $87,000 from a 43-year-old mother of two who is employed as a hotel room cleaner. According to The Post, this indictment follows Ufie's arrest by the NYPD near Bryant Park as they were charging her with one count of grand larceny and two counts of fraudulent accosting. The alleged victim fell for a ruse beginning in 2023 where Ufie claimed the woman's son was cursed and would die without her intervention.
The victim was first approached with a warning of darkness surrounding her and was persuaded to make an initial payment of $100. She was then drawn further into the scheme, eventually giving more money under the impression that both she and her son were at risk. The money was handed over with the promise that it would be cleansed of evil and returned to her. As per report by The Post, these events took place until late October 2023, but the promised return of funds never materialized.
Bob Nygaard, a private investigator and ex-cop specialized in catching fraudulent psychics, was pivotal in bringing Ufie to justice. "This is the fourth time I’ve helped the cops with Pamela Ufie," Nygaard told The Post.
His experience includes recovering $12 million for victims across multiple states. Ufie's counsel has maintained her innocence amidst these allegations, asserting, "She is presumed innocent and all the evidence will be presented in the courtroom," Ufie's attorney, Albert Dayan, stated this defense, as Gothamist reported.
In New York, fortune telling in exchange for money is technically a criminal offense, designated as a class B misdemeanor, but the law is infrequently enforced. Running into skepticism within the legal system, Nygaard recounted difficulties in getting police action on these cases. The former cop-turned-PI was involved in all three of Ufie's previous arrests, once for an encounter with a car being able to get their assistance in making the arrest, according to Gothamist. The complexities of such cases are compounded by the defendants often citing religious exemptions in their defense, with courts historically ruling against these claims. Nygaard equates fortune tellers with Ponzi schemers, saying, “Vulnerable people are being bilked out of millions of dollars and the law was enacted in order to protect those people,” indicating the broader societal harms of such scams.
