Prison time could be in her future.
An itinerant Manhattan fortune teller with a shady history is accused of scamming a 43-year-old mother of two who cleans hotel rooms for a living out of $87,000.
Pamela Ufie, 28, was arrested near Bryant Park Thursday evening and charged with one count of grand larceny and two counts of fraudulent accosting, according to court documents.
The crystal ball swindler allegedly tricked her victim into handing over thousands of dollars in a scheme dating back to 2023, according to private investigator and former NYPD cop Bob Nygaard, who tipped off local police.
“This is the fourth time I’ve helped the cops with Pamela Ufie,” Nygaard told The Post Sunday. “She’s a self-proclaimed psychic who preys upon vulnerable people and steals from them.”
He said the latest case is a common form of the fortune teller’s con game.
The victim was walking through Times Square after work on April 11, 2023, when Ufie approached her and told her she had a “darkness” on her, the PI said.
Initially, the victim paid Ufie $100, Nygaard said. But then she was told the so-called clairvoyant needed to do more “research.”
Ufie told the victim that her son was going to die if she did not let her help lift what she described as a “generational curse,” according to the investigator.
“Ufie also told the victim that she and her son would die if she didn’t help lift the darkness,” said Nygaard, who was also a cop in Nassau County.
The alleged grifter told the victim the only way to lift the curse was if she gave her money, since money is the root of all evil, and she and others would cleanse it and then return it, he said.
But the cash was never returned and the victim was out money she had saved in hopes of eventually buying a house for her family.
The fleecing went on until Oct. 26, 2023, Nygaard said.
Ufie pleaded not guilty during her arraignment Friday. She did not return multiple calls seeking comment.
“She is presumed innocent and all the evidence will be presented in the courtroom,” her lawyer, Albert Dayan, told Gothamist.
Nygaard said he had to fly up to the city from his home in Florida to plead with police to arrest the accused con artist.
The retired cop spotted the phony fortune teller Thursday afternoon near the New York Public Library’s main branch next to Bryant Park — an area which she liked to frequent he said, and called 911. Officers responded and made the arrest.
It was the conclusion of his more than two-year investigation, he said.
Nygaard said he was involved in all four of Ufie’s cases, including the first nearly a decade ago involving her mother-in-law, who was accused of running a similar scheme.
The faux psychic has had numerous run-ins with the law in 2023 and two previous arrests for grand larceny in 2021 and 2022, according to police sources.
Nygaard said he specializes in these types of schemes and has worked with federal investigators and police departments from 12 states on fortune teller cases, and has helped recover $12 million for victims.
He said he often encounters members of law enforcement — both cops and prosecutors — who don’t know that invoking psychic powers is often illegal.
“People go into a police precinct and they’re told it’s a civil matter, it’s a civil matter, it’s a civil matter,” he said. “But it’s not a civil matter, it’s a criminal one – there is a law on the books.”
There is in fact a law in New York making it illegal to take money to practice “occult powers.” Fortune telling is a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail. Nygaard said it is a law that is rarely enforced, however.
He said too often, law enforcement seems to blame the victim in these cases. But he’s seen people from all walks of life come to him for help after getting bamboozled by the clairvoyant scammers.
“I had a guy that was a rocket scientist, a teacher, an NYPD cop even,” he said. “It’s not a matter of education or intelligence. What law enforcement doesn’t realize is that anybody – anybody – will fall victim to a psychic scam if you’re in a vulnerable moment in your life.”
Additional reporting by Larry Celona.
Read the full article here
