Investment adviser guilty of fraud in ‘hoodoo’ trial

An investment adviser was convicted Wednesday of charges she defrauded investors out of millions of dollars, some of which she used to pay more than $800,000 for prayers by Hindu priests in India to ward off federal investigators. A federal jury in Greenbelt deliberated for roughly four hours over two days before convicting 56-year-old Dawn Bennett of all 17 counts in her indictment, including charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud. The verdict came after a two-week trial in Maryland. Bennett was indicted last year. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis did not immediately set a sentencing date. Jurors heard testimony that Bennett paid a man in Washington state to arrange for Hindu priests to pray for her while her business was collapsing and she faced an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. FBI agents also found evidence in Bennett’s Chevy Chase home that she tried to silence SEC investigators by casting “hoodoo” spells, according to an FBI affidavit that accompanied her arrest last year in Santa Fe, N.M.. Bennett used investors’ money to pay off other investors and for her own benefit, including more than $141,000 on astrological gems, more than $100,000 on cosmetic medical procedures and a $500,000 annual lease for a luxury suite at the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium, prosecutors said.