DC 'psychic' $4M extortion scheme (10+ yrs)
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Evidence status
Convicted
Authority role
See cited record
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The scheme used claimed psychic powers and supernatural threats as part of a broader pattern of fraud and extortion.
- Prosperity, divination, or curse-removal claim
Cited record
Sources
- prosecuting authority disposition U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, “Purported Psychic Sentenced to More Than 10 Years in Prison” (July 18, 2024).
The Justice Department records Gina Rita Russell’s extortion plea, 125-month sentence, restitution order, and separate use of claimed psychic powers in related fraudulent conduct.
Source provenance
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- Source and tier basis
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/purported-psychic-sentenced-more-10-years-prison-outrageous-4-million-extortion-scheme Corpus classification: prosecuting-authority; evidentiary role: disposition. SHA-256 810f5f092bbc3b89cfb4f8d696539f0d5ff5d8ccde3c14ed1a204088967e1229
- Retrieval
- 2026-07-20 · Preserved
- Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
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Related record
Related cases · Divination and fortune-telling services
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- 2025 · Pavlovsk, Voronezh Oblast, Russia Russia: three years for a woman who offered a stranger a curse-removal rite, asked her to hand over her life savings to be blessed, and stole the 240,000 roubles
- 2020 · Sayanogorsk, Republic of Khakassia, Russia Russia: four years for a member of a three-role curse-removal crew — a recruiter, a corroborator and a lookout, working elderly women
- 2020 · Pavlovsk, Voronezh Oblast, Russia Russia: a 500-rouble fortune-telling offer in a shop escalated over three days into 424,000 roubles in cash, gold and household goods taken for curse-removal rites