She Lifted His Savings, Not His Curse

ARLINGTON, Va. — Police are investigating the case of a maintenance worker who was bilked out of his life savings when he asked a fortune teller to remove a curse on him.

Police said a Spanish-speaking woman between 35 and 40 had set up a fortune teller’s shop.

An apartment maintenance worker who believed he was having bad luck went to the fortune teller two or three times, police said. The man, who was not identified, had been told “someone had put the evil spirit in him,” a police spokesman said.

The fortune teller lit candles, told the man to strip to his underwear and rubbed his body with raw eggs.

She then told him that to remove the curse she would have to bless his money overnight. She asked him for $20,000 so the man came up with $6,000 of his own money and borrowed $10,000 from friends, which was close enough for the fortune teller.

Next day the woman and the cash were gone.

“He came back at noon the next day and she was gone,” said Detective James Griswold, who works in the police department’s white-collar crime unit. “That was his life savings and probably the life savings of several other people.”