Fortune-telling swindlers who took two million rubles ($32,000) from 2014 Olympic champion figure skater Adelina Sotnikova in exchange for their ‘magic services’ have been found and detained by Russian police.
The group of thieves, who claimed to have been gifted with extrasensory abilities, offered fortune-telling and magic help to people in return for massive amounts of money.
One of the victims who suffered at the hands of the ‘magicians’ turned out to be prominent Russian athlete Sotnikova, who won the women’s figure skating event at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
The 23-year-old reportedly decided to solve her romantic woes with a ‘magic wand’, willingly transferring a total of two million rubles ($32,000 USD) to a woman who had promised to bring back Sotnikova’s boyfriend.
Having received the money, the ‘magus’ magically disappeared – prompting the skater to report the incident to the police.
It hasn’t been revealed whether or not the skater’s lost money will be returned. After her Olympic triumph Sotnikova hasn’t taken part in any major international events, giving her full focus to exhibition figure skating shows.
The skater hasn’t announced her retirement from professional sport, though, promising to resume her competitive career several times. However, her much-anticipated comeback hasn’t taken place yet.