Woman who worked as psychic charged in $70,000 fraud

A woman who worked as a psychic in Edmonton has been charged with defrauding 10 people of more than $70,000, butpolice suspect there may be morecomplainants.

The woman used the name "Sabrina Burt" or "Sable" and used the business name "Sable Psychic Studio," police said Tuesday in a news release.

Between April 2018 and May 2019, she allegedlydefrauded 10 complainants of a total of more than $72,500.

The biggest individual loss was $20,250.

"It was reported to police that the accused told the complainants they needed to pay a fee of thousands of dollars to obtain a special crystal for a procedure that would remove negative energy," the news release said.

The complainants were told the fee would be refunded after the procedure, police said.

"Investigators believe the accused exploited the complainants' vulnerabilities to convince them to pay ever-increasing amounts of money toward the crystal procedure, in addition to changing the price and misrepresenting the services being provided. The promised refund never occurred."

Cynthia Burt, 22, was arrested in Edmontonon three outstanding Canada-wide warrants in relation to a similar file in Ontario.

She wascharged on June 10 with six counts offraud over $5,000 and four counts offraud under $5,000in relation to the incidents in Edmonton.

Detectives said believethere may be others who have had similar encounters with the accusedand areencouragingthem to come forward bycalling police.