{"id":4682,"date":"2026-06-16T15:01:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T15:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4682"},"modified":"2026-06-16T15:01:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T15:01:21","slug":"texas-couple-charged-in-2-5m-psychic-fraud-preying-on-grieving-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4682","title":{"rendered":"Texas couple charged in $2.5M ‘psychic’ fraud, preying on grieving victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

\u00a0Bridgette Doreen Evans, AKA Jolene Travis, 47, and her partner, Vinnie John Uwanawich, 44, of Frisco, Texas (Source: Collin County Jail)<\/span> <\/p>

Read more Hurricane season update: Invest 90L being tracked along Texas Gulf coast<\/a><\/p> <\/div><\/div> <\/div>

FRISCO, Texas<\/strong> – <\/span>A Texas couple has been arrested on federal charges for allegedly running a multi-year “fortune-teller fraud” scheme that swindled emotionally vulnerable victims out of at least $2.5 million.<\/p>

Bridgette Doreen Evans, 47, and her husband, Vinnie John Uwanawich, 44, both of Frisco, Texas, are facing charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, alongside four counts each of wire and mail fraud. The made an initial court appearance last week in the Eastern District of Texas.<\/p>

According to an indictment filed in the Western District of Washington, Evans posed as a psychic named “Jolene Travis,” using social media to target individuals struggling with divorce, isolation, or the death of a loved one.<\/p>

<\/div>

Cursed cash<\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

Prosecutors allege that between April 2021 and July 2024, Evans convinced victims that their personal and romantic misfortunes were tied to a financial “curse.” After obtaining detailed accounts of the victims’ finances, Evans allegedly told them the only way to break the curse was to liquidate their holdings and ship the funds to her in cash or gold coins for a spiritual “cleansing.”<\/p>

Evans allegedly promised the victims that the money would be returned after it was purified. Instead, prosecutors say she kept the vast majority of the funds, occasionally returning small amounts only to “lull” the victims into a false sense of security.<\/p>

One Washington state victim alone sent more than $2 million to the couple, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.<\/p>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

“These perpetrators of \u2018fortune-teller fraud\u2019 came into the lives of these victims at a time when their judgment was clouded by emotional loss and feelings of hopelessness,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said in a statement. “Ms. Evans preyed upon their needs… leaving them further devastated.”<\/p>

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Federal authorities noted that Evans used multiple aliases, including Jolene Travis, Joy John, and Joy Paige, to obscure her identity because she had prior convictions for psychic fraud in Texas and Florida. The scheme was so institutionalized that when Evans was briefly incarcerated in Florida during the conspiracy, her co-conspirators took over the “Jolene Travis” alias to keep the operation running, the indictment states.<\/p>

Fortune-teller fraud<\/h2>

Uwanawich is accused of facilitating the fraud by managing the bank accounts that received the stolen money, selling the gold coins, and directly vouching for Evans to suspicious victims.<\/p>

The indictment details multiple other victims, including one who sent $86,000 in electronic payments, and a third who was defrauded of $258,000. In the latter case, Evans allegedly convinced the victim to open credit cards and take out car loans to buy a Chevrolet Corvette for Evans in order to clear “karmic debts.”<\/p>

“The schemes may change, but the greed driving them does not,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “The FBI and our partners will follow the money to unravel these scams.”<\/p>

If convicted, Evans and Uwanawich face up to 20 years in prison for each count of conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud.<\/p>

What you can do:<\/p>

The FBI is continuing to investigate the scope of the fraud and urges anyone who believes they may have been targeted by Evans under any of her aliases to file a report at www.ic3.gov.<\/p>

Read more Outdoor retailer closing nearly 60 stores amid bankruptcy<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Texas couple faces federal charges for a $2.5M “fortune teller fraud” scheme. Posing as a psychic, the woman targeted vulnerable individuals, convincing them their hardships were “curses.” Victims handed over cash, cars, and gold for spiritual “cleansing,” but the couple kept the assets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-news","category-texas"],"yoast_head":"\nTexas couple charged in $2.5M 'psychic' fraud, preying on grieving victims - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4682\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas couple charged in $2.5M 'psychic' fraud, preying on grieving victims - Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Texas couple faces federal charges for a $2.5M "fortune teller fraud" scheme. 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