Accused ‘Psychic’ Thief and Con Artist did not Forsee her own arrest
A five-day trial for a Lafayette psychic accused of stealing thousands of dollars from clients opened Monday.
Nancy Marks, 55, owned Psychic Reading, 707 S. Public Road, in Lafayette. She is accused of 14 counts of theft and two counts of tax evasion.
According to police and court records, seven victims told police that Marks said she needed their cash to “draw out the bad energy” and their credit card numbers to see how frequently the number 6 appeared. Marks then refused to return the cash and used the credit cards to make purchases at Macy’s, Target and Sears, the police report said.
Marks is accused of stealing almost $300,000.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Foote told a jury of six men and six women that Marks preyed on vulnerable people and moved slowly and carefully in order to build trust.
She didn’t start out by asking for large amounts of money, Foote said. Rather, she would first suggest a meditation session or that a client use particular bath salts. Then, she would suggest that clients withdraw money in particular denominations and perform minor rituals with it themselves.
When the clients’ personal problems continued, Marks would suggest more “work” was needed and ask them to give her the money for safekeeping. One a few occasions, she returned small amounts in an attempt to pacify an angry former client, but the majority of the money was never returned, Foote said.