A 27-year-old woman has been charged with fraud and pretending to practise witchcraft after allegedly convincing a man to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars to ward off evil spirits.
York regional police allege the woman first came in contact with the 67-year-old man in Vaughan, about four years ago, at which point she posed as a psychic and warned him his home was full of evil spirits.
Police say she persuaded the man to sell his home and transfer the proceeds to her account, promising to hold the money for him until the spirits were eliminated.
They allege she never returned the money, but instead demanded an additional $6,000 in cash that she said she would burn to ward off the spirits.
Police say the man sold his car in order to comply with her demands and ended up losing more than $600,000 in the alleged scam.
Samantha Stevenson, also known under the alias Evanna Lopez, is charged with pretending to practice witchcraft, fraud over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.