MIAMI (AFP) - A Florida woman was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to return two million dollars she bilked from elderly people by claiming she needed to exorcise the cash.

And in the same Miami court, a former police detective was sent behind bars for five years after he admitted using his position to keep the woman out of jail when he was meant to be investigating the fraud.

Linda Marks, 57, a self-proclaimed psychic and fortune teller admitted that she had bilked two million dollars from vulnerable people, most of them elderly. She told her victims their cash was tainted by evil spirits, and convinced them to hand it over to her so she could cleanse it, but never returned the money.

US District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks on Wednesday ordered her to restitute the two million dollars, while former police detective Jack Makler, 64, was ordered to restitute 235,700 dollars.

Makler had admitted to receiving money and property from Marks and to lying to state criminal courts in New Mexico and Florida to help Marks avoid severe criminal penalties.

See this is where greed gets you. If she hadn't stolen so much, she could have kept it. Why was she hoarding it anyway instead of spending it? Idiot. Spend it, spend it, cleanse it from the devil!

I just have one thing to ask. Didn't she see that coming?

Haha! Yeah as a 'fortune teller' she should have seen the cops coming after her a mile away! Three words: Swiss bank account.

What a Stupid Scam. all it took was one old person with a son or daughter or friend who wasn't a total IDIOT to ask for there money back or go to the cops. I like a good smart con as well as the next person but this was plain stupid. on the order of robbing a bank with a Knife- it is not going to work

I don't think most phsycic con artists are smart. You'd think they'd come up with a con that isn't used very much.

what kind of people actually believe thier money is possed or evil. sshheesshh

Yeah like selling pdf files over the internet for $200.00.

I think all that are on this and other forums are evil and need to be cleansed immediately of their evil, capitalist cash! Refute the vile whiff of Yankee greenbacks and send them to me so I can purify your lost soul back to communista!!

Get in line buddy!!

This kind of stuff angers me, there is nothing whatsoever 'psychic' or 'fortune telling' about this. A scam artist taking advantage of peoples fear. I wonder if the people that didn't give her their so called 'possessed money' got rid of it anyway?

one word LAME

What a lazy attempt at a con.

Well it worked though that's the scary part!

Manipulation can be a dangerous thing.

Mmmmm... this woman gives fortunetellers a bad name...

My grandmother was a fortune teller and adviser in Florida for more than 20 years (she passed away in 1997).... and was good to her customers.

And yes... most of her customers were older and some were pretty poor... but they were very loyal to her.. and her to them.

Even some of her wealthier customers would give her big money as an extra gift... just for her being so good to them.

I remember watching her make good luck packages and remember hearing her talk to her customers... oh the memories.

I actually have her crystal ball... she left it to me... and will cherish it dearly for the rest of my life.

I have never tried to practice to see if I have "the gift"... but belive me she did... and people like this woman .. who obviously did not ... disgust me!!

The women is a criminal, and the victims are just idiots for falling in a trick soo stupid.

Since there's no laws, obviously, against "stupid", I wonder if the press will report the other bilking syndicate in this story. The prosecutors office, that will keep all the elderly victims money "as evidence", in the case of a future appeal.

Real justice would document the serial numbers, write a receipt for the file in government , and give the people their money back! And how does one accomplish that? So then who gets what back, fairly!? Perhaps psycho-psychic kept accounts of who she swindled. Otherwise, do the math! X number of complainant's before this went to press / trial, get equal share. Some gave more, some gave less, but money's money so shut up, and consider any loss of what one gave this obvious thief, "stupid tax", so as to remind one what not to do when approached by a lamer talking about exorcising cash! (Which really isn't fraud when you think about it. She certainly did cleanse them of their money! )