Deja Vu for Phony SoFla Psychic
Scammer busted for bilking client out of $300,000
Broward Sheriff's Office
Fake psychic Gina Marks, in an earlier and more recent mug shot.
You didn't need a crystal ball to see this coming.
Notorious Hollywood psychic Gina Marks has once again been busted for bilking a customer out of cash, and this time the take was a whopping $300,000.
Marks, 37, was arrested on March 11 on a warrant for organized fraud, grand theft and probation violation, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.
Police said Marks swindled a woman out of the goods by telling the Coconut Grove woman she was surrounded by evil spirits and that Marks was the only one who vanquish them.
Marks convinced the woman she was cursed, had cancer, her family members were in danger and that her apartment was full of evil and negativity.
To remove the evil, Marks had the woman rub an egg all over her body, spit in a jar and cover it with a black pillowcase and put it under her bed, and eat only red fruit.
She also had the woman provide hair and urine samples.
The con took place over a period of 19 months, beginning in August of 2008, and Marks made off with $298,000 in cash, gift cards, jewelry, purses and clothing, according to police. Marks even told the woman that her father was going to die unless she gave Marks gift cards to high-end department stores, police said.
Police said the unidentified victim is in a fragile mental state.
Removing curses for exorbitant fees is nothing new to Marks. Neither is trouble with the law.
Last October, Marks was charged with grand theft for scamming a client out of $30,000 in a "cleansing ritual." She was already on probation after pleading guilty to fleecing five separate clients throughout Broward County out of $65,000, to rid the money of demons.
Marks, who has operated under the name Zara Margazio, wrote a book called Miami Psychic - Confessions of a Confidante, under the name Regina Milbourne, published by Regan Books in 2006.
Posted Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010 - 11:27 AM EST
