A Virginia 'psychic' told clients their money was cursed, then kept it instead of burying it
Sandra Marks, operating as "Psychic Catherine" from a rented house on US Route 29 near Charlottesville, Virginia, told clients she sensed a curse or "dark cloud" on their money, and offered to cleanse it through prayer, meditation and ritual before returning it, sometimes promising to bury the cash in a box near her cabin. She instead deposited the money in bank accounts and spent it with her husband, Donnie Marks, on cars, jewelry and a "lavish lifestyle." Marks pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering covering two of the five victims named in the original indictment and was sentenced on November 18, 2016, to 30 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $5,479,994.60 in restitution, plus $87,000 in asset forfeiture. Donnie Marks pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering and was sentenced on February 11, 2017, to 33 months in federal prison for his role managing the proceeds.
- Year
- 2016
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $5.5 million
- Victims
- 2
- Schemes
- Psychic and fortune-teller fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-04
The facts, as recorded
- Sandra Marks operated as 'Psychic Catherine' out of a rented house on US Route 29 near Charlottesville, Virginia.
- She told victims she detected a curse or a 'dark cloud' on their money and offered to cleanse it through prayer, meditation and ritual, in one instance telling a victim she would bury the cash in a box near her cabin and later return it.
- She instead deposited the money into ordinary bank accounts and spent it, telling the court she never actually buried or cleansed anything.
- She pleaded guilty to one count each of mail fraud and money laundering, covering two of the five victims originally named in the indictment; one of those two victims had ALS and died before the case concluded.
- US District Judge Glen Conrad sentenced her on November 18, 2016, to 30 months in federal prison, three years of supervised release, $5,479,994.60 in restitution, and $87,000 in asset forfeiture.
- At sentencing, Judge Conrad said: 'Those are good chunks of money. It was a big scheme.'
- Her defense attorney argued she would otherwise be 'reading palms for $35,' pointing to her access to a legitimate-seeming venue, a local wellness and events space called Synchronicity, as part of what let the scheme reach victims.
- Her husband, Donnie Marks, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering for his role managing and spending the fraudulently obtained funds, and was sentenced on February 11, 2017, to 33 months in federal prison.
- The couple used the proceeds to finance cars, jewelry and what prosecutors described as a lavish lifestyle.
Why this case matters
This case shows a different mechanical variant of the same fraud: instead of claiming a person or their family is cursed, the operator claims the victim’s own money is cursed, and that handing it over for “cleansing” is the cure. The pretext changes; the demand to surrender cash to a stranger does not.
A married operation, not a solo act
Sandra Marks ran the pitch; her husband Donnie Marks managed and spent the proceeds. Both were convicted, showing that in a family-run version of this fraud, a spouse who never poses as the psychic can still face the same mail fraud and money laundering charges for handling the money afterward.
The caveat
Both Sandra Marks and Donnie Marks pleaded guilty and were sentenced by a federal judge; this is a fully proven and concluded legal outcome, not an allegation. The $5,479,994.60 restitution figure covers the two victims named in the plea agreement, not the full five victims in the original indictment, so the true scale of the scheme may have been larger than the amount a court ultimately ordered repaid.
Sources
- Man gets nearly 3 years in prison for psychic fraud scheme. WSET-TV (Lynchburg/Charlottesville, Virginia). Accessed 2026-10-04. Supports: Sandra and Donnie Marks's names and roles, the $5.4 million restitution figure, the charges of mail fraud and money laundering, Donnie Marks's February 11, 2017 sentencing to 33 months, and the couple's lavish lifestyle.
- Psychic sentenced to 30 months, blames Synchronicity. C-VILLE Weekly (Charlottesville, Virginia). Accessed 2026-10-04. Supports: Sandra Marks's operating name 'Psychic Catherine,' the US Route 29 location, the cursed-money and cabin-burial pretext, the exact $5,479,994.60 restitution figure, the $87,000 forfeiture, the 34-count original charges and guilty plea covering 2 victims, the November 18, 2016 sentencing date, the ALS victim who died, and the quotes from Judge Conrad and the defense attorney.