Politics & Government

Amid Complaints, Licensing Board Renews Fatima's Psychic Studio License

The Salem Licensing Board has renewed Fatima's Psychic Studio's store fortune-telling license through the end of the year.


Despite an active police investigation into allegations that psychics at Fatima's Psychic Studio have been accepting large amounts of money to remove curses, the Salem Licensing Board approved a motion Monday night to reinstate the owner's store fortune-telling license through the end of the year.  

Local attorney Bill Quinn appeared before the board on behalf of Fatima's owner Harry Mitchell and acknowledged an active Salem police investigation into a complaint alleging that a psychic at Fatima's accepted more than $16,000 from a Henrietta, N.Y., man in return for a protective shield and "channel angels."  

After assuring board members that Mitchell had already spoken to the alleged victim and was working to "reimburse quite a bit" of his money, Quinn pointed out that Mitchell was not seeking to renew the fortunetelling sublicense for the psychic who has been the focus of recent complaints. 

"They've been there for 21 years, successfully running a business in the community in the same location and we've had a very serious talk with their civil attorney about the ordinance and what they're allowed to do...there will be no curse removals, no hex removals and nothing that would require them to reach out to people outside of the studio," Quinn said. 

Speaking out against the license renewal was City Councilor William Legault who said he doubted that recent complaints were the result of a few isolated incidents.

"Just like any other situation when somebody gets caught doing something for the first time, it is very seldom the first time they're doing it," Legault said. "We cannot have visitors coming to this city being taken advantage of consistently over a 9-year time period, especially when they're in a vulnerable state."  

Prior to the vote, Det. Sgt. James Page announced that he was withdrawing four of the complaints he filed at a meeting earlier this month because the alleged violations occurred at a time when the studio was operating without a valid fortune-telling license.

On Oct. 10, police issued Mitchell a cease and desist order after discovering that he had been operating the psychic studio without a valid license since March of 2012.

Page did, however, issue Mitchell two $100 fines for conducting business on the two days that the alleged violations occurred. 

"Since this story has been in the media, there have been other people coming forward saying they've been offered to have curses removed at Fatima's," Page said. "This is a city that relies heavily on tourism and this has to stop."

After warning that any further violations would result in the loss of his store fortune-telling license, board members approved Mitchell's license to operate through the end of the year and granted fortune-telling sub-licenses to his wife, Fatima, and his daughter, Tammy.


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