A Hawthorne widow says she handed over $78,500 in cash and cherished family keepsakes to a Paramus psychic who claimed the money was needed to cleanse her dead husband's tormented spirit. Marisol Meza's lawsuit, filed September 2 in Bergen County Superior Court, accuses Holly Stanley and her business, Psychic Readings, of fraud, misrepresentation, undue influence, unjust enrichment and consumer fraud after Meza sought guidance following her husband's October 2022 death.
Meza's husband died of kidney disease after a 12-year illness, and she began meeting with Stanley and other psychics at the South Farview Avenue office in Paramus in February, according to the lawsuit detailed by NJ.com. The psychics reportedly charged $500 for an initial consultation before telling Meza that her late husband's spirit required urgent cleansing, per the lawsuit. According to Daily Voice, the complaint specifies demands of $7,000 for a personal cleanse and $6,500 to cleanse her husband's spirit, followed by a request for $65,000 in cash — calculated at $1,000 for every year of her husband's 65-year life — to be divided across 65 white envelopes meant to lift an alleged inheritance curse.
A Box of Cash and a Husband's Belongings
The psychics then instructed Meza to fill a box with cash along with her husband's belongings, including a watch, a necklace, a bracelet and an old key to the couple's home, and to meditate over the box for several days, the lawsuit states. When she returned, the psychics allegedly demanded another $52,000 in cash for a further ritual, per the lawsuit, and ultimately kept the box containing $71,500 in inheritance and life-savings cash along with her husband's belongings. Meza has demanded her money back, but the report notes she has not gotten it.
The lawsuit is seeking statutory treble damages under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, according to Patch. Under N.J.S.A. 56:8-19, that statute allows victims of unlawful commercial misrepresentation causing an ascertainable financial loss to recover three times their losses plus attorney fees. If Meza prevails, that formula could theoretically push her recovery well beyond the original $78,500.
Stanley Denies Wrongdoing, Calls Claims Ridiculous
Stanley, 35, denied any wrongdoing and told NJ.com the lawsuit is ridiculous, adding that she felt betrayed by the woman. She said the woman signed for the services, that people pay her voluntarily, and that she is a licensed business owner who files taxes. Stanley said much of the money went toward crystals and that her services include meditating over a deceased person's belongings; she said she felt the business was being slandered online and plans to remain in business in Paramus despite the lawsuit.
Stanley's attorney, David J. Altieri, said the lawsuit has no basis and will be responded to accordingly, and he denied the claims on her behalf. Stanley charges $125 to $160 an hour for various services, according to the same NJ.com report.
A Familiar Complaint From a Decade Ago
This is not the first time Stanley has faced accusations of this kind. In May 2016, Paramus police arrested a then-25-year-old Stanley on charges of theft by deception after a Glen Rock woman reported being scammed out of $41,000 at the same 114 S. Farview Ave. office, according to CBS New York. That victim said she initially paid $100 for a crystal ball reading before making payments of $5,000 and $36,000 to remove negative spirits, and she only contacted police after Stanley asked for an additional $90,000. Stanley was released on $5,000 bail at the time, and the outcome of that 2016 case was unavailable in online court records, per NJ.com.
How Spiritual Cleansing Scams Escalate
Cases like Meza's fit a pattern law enforcement has flagged nationally. Guidance published by Police1 in June notes that fortune teller fraud schemes frequently exploit people suffering from recent grief or trauma, using cold reading to build emotional dependency before requesting steep payments for spiritual purification — and that police often struggle to pursue these cases when perpetrators frame the payments as voluntary fees for services. Federal prosecutors in Washington state indicted a Texas couple in June on charges they swindled more than $2.5 million from emotionally vulnerable victims nationwide in a fortune-teller fraud scheme promising to cleanse financial and romantic curses, with one victim alone surrendering over $2 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Evans and Uwanawich were indicted on June 10, 2026, after allegedly stealing at least $2.5 million from at least three victims between April 2021 and July 2024 in a fake psychic fraud scheme. The Federal Trade Commission reported in June that consumers nationwide lost $3.5 billion to imposter and deception scams throughout 2025.
Similar prosecutions have surfaced closer to home. Manhattan prosecutors indicted a fortune teller last year on grand larceny charges after she allegedly defrauded a hotel room cleaner out of $87,000 by claiming her son was cursed and promising to return the purified cash. Under New Jersey criminal law, theft by deception involving cash or property valued at $75,000 or more is classified as a second-degree crime carrying potential penalties of five to 10 years in state prison and fines up to $150,000, according to attorneys at Villani & DeLuca, P.C. Meza's civil lawsuit remains pending, and no criminal charges have been reported in connection with her allegations against Stanley.
