A Manhattan woman was arrested last week for allegedly defrauding a client out of nearly $90,000 through the rarely enforced crime of fortune telling, police and court records reveal.
Pamela Ufie, 29, was taken into custody Thursday in connection with a 2023 case, in which she allegedly convinced a 43-year-old woman that her son was cursed. According to prosecutors, Ufie told the client she needed to spend $87,000 on special materials for rituals to lift the curse.
The arrest came with the help of former Nassau County police officer Bob Nygaard, now a private investigator who specializes in psychic fraud. Nygaard said he tracked Ufie and alerted police after spotting her operating near Bryant Park.
“She claimed she needed spiritual tools to fight a generational curse,” Nygaard said. “But this is a classic scam targeting emotionally vulnerable people.”
Ufie has had at least two previous arrests for similar schemes, according to police, although case details were not publicly available. Nygaard said he also played a role in those prior arrests and believes Ufie may be connected to another alleged scammer, Amanda Ufie, who shares the same last name.
Despite being charged under New York’s little-known fortune telling law — a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail — Ufie was ultimately arraigned on charges of grand larceny and accosting.
Her lawyer, Albert Dayan, said Ufie pleaded not guilty and emphasized that she is “presumed innocent until proven otherwise.”
Fortune telling arrests are exceedingly rare in New York. Over the last 15 years, police say only 11 people have filed formal complaints, and just four arrests have been made.
Nygaard, who has made it his mission to crack down on psychic scams, says one of the biggest challenges is convincing authorities to take the crime seriously.
“Most officers don’t even realize it’s illegal,” he said. “Victims are told it’s a civil matter because they gave the money voluntarily.”
Frustrated by police inaction, Nygaard said he had to chase down a patrol car himself to make the arrest happen. “I literally banged on a police cruiser stopped at a red light,” he recalled.
While police confirmed the arrest, they did not immediately verify Nygaard’s account of events. Still, Nygaard remains concerned about the legal system’s reluctance to prosecute such cases, citing defendants’ frequent use of religious freedom as a defense.
“These schemes are like emotional Ponzi scams,” he said. “They prey on grief, fear, and desperation — and the law exists to protect victims from exactly this.”
