MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) – Police in Moscow have rounded up a gang of would-be psychics that earned around 200 million rubles ($6.3 million) by offering to solve people’s personal problems through magic, police said Wednesday.
Eleven people have been detained in a series of 15 police raids in which computers, documents, and client lists were seized.
The purported psychics took money from over 400 people all across Russia and other former Soviet countries, according to a police statement.
Police said the suspects, who are being charged with fraud, told clients they would solve family and personal problems remotely through a series of magical seances.
Further investigations are being undertaken to ascertain if more people were involved in the ring.
Fraud in Russia carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.
Superstition, fortune-telling and divination play a prominent role in Russian folk tradition.
Many Russians retain a deep fascination with the paranormal that has been successfully exploited by popular Russian television series Battle of the Psychics, which has now entered its 14th season.
