'Witch' purports to burn client's cash to keep evil spirits at bay, police say

MIAMI – Samantha Stevenson allegedly told her clients she was a witch named Evanna Lopez.

When she sensed evil spirits had possessed her 67-year-old client's home, she allegedly told him he had to sell his house.

To keep the evil spirits at bay, the 27-year-old woman allegedly told her client that once he sold the home he had to transfer about $457,000 to her bank account. 

She would hold it until the evil spirits were gone. But when the spirits fought back, she said she had to burn about $4,570 during a ceremony. 

That is what a man told York Regional Police detectives in Ontario who decided to arrest Stevenson this week. Prosecutors charged her with pretending to practice witchcraft, fraud over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.