Two Jenkintown ‘psychics’ will face a county judge in $600,000 theft case

Two Montgomery County women, in times of personal turmoil, turned to two self-proclaimed psychics in Jenkintown for comfort and guidance.

Instead, they testified Monday, Gina Marks and Steve Nicklas strung them along, persuaded them to hand over a combined $600,000 in money and luxury goods, and threatened to attack and blackmail them when they tried to get the items back.

One woman said at Nicklas’ preliminary hearing that she felt compelled to work with them because they told her that her ex-wife was being targeted by “black magic,” and her life was in danger.

“As someone who loved my wife and my family, I felt like I had no choice,” she said. “I wanted to save them.”

District Judge R. Emmett Madden dismissed four charges against Nicklas, 41, including racketeering and dealing in unlawful proceeds, but held him for trial on theft and related crimes. Marks, his paramour and business partner, waived her preliminary hearing and will face a county judge on all of the charges.

Marks, 53, has been convicted of similar fraud before, in Florida and Maryland, including stealing $340,000 from clients she promised to rid of “curses.”

Nicklas’ attorney, Elizabeth Lippy, argued that Marks, not he, was the one who ran Jenkintown Psychic Visions and directed the transfer of money and high-priced items, including designer purses and watches.

“This is not the Jenkintown mafia,” Lippy said, referencing the use of racketeering charges to disrupt organized crime rings. “This is a storefront psychic who advertised her own abilities, and giving money to Mr. Nicklas doesn’t create a corrupt organization.”

Assistant District Attorney Christian Taffe presented evidence that between 2022 and their arrest in October, Marks and Nicklas encouraged the two women to make multiple wire transfers to bank accounts and a CashApp account operated by Nicklas. Marks also instructed them to withdraw large amounts of cash and to store the money in pillowcases as part of various rituals with supposedly paranormal purposes.

One woman said she hired Marks in hopes that her ex-fiancé, who had called off their wedding, would reach out to her and come back into her life.

She said Marks initially told her to keep the money in her home, but later asked her to bring it to her and Nicklas in-person as part of a “marriage ritual.”

That ritual, the woman said, also required a $6,000 Chanel purse that Marks told her to purchase after asking her to extend a higher line of credit with her bank.

Marks, she said, promised to return both the purse and money to her.

“She told me not to worry about money,” the woman said, “because ‘money comes and money goes.’”

After months of cajoling Marks, the woman received a fraction of her money back, and the purse, which she was able to return to the store for a partial refund.

When the women pressed for more money to be returned, she said Marks threatened to contact her ex and create fake social media accounts for her, using personal information she had shared during their psychic readings.

The other victim said Marks placed similar demands on her: In addition to a pillowcase full of money, she was directed to buy expensive Rolex and Cartier watches, again as part of a ritual.

When the woman tried to get her money back, Marks became irate, she testified. Nicklas would then join the conversation, telling her to “trust the process” and promising that everything would be returned to her if she completed the ritual.

Lippy, Nicklas’ attorney, asserted that no theft had occurred. Both women, she said, believed in the paranormal, and had agreed to pay for psychic services.

“Both of these victims have free will,” she said. “When a psychic promises their services, it’s a service nonetheless.”