Volatile markets and the fear of making an investment blunder can lead some people to make strange decisions, but turning to the supernatural is perhaps taking things a little too far.
Police in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh have arrested an expat from an unspecified Arab country for scamming SAR14m (£2.9m, $3.7m, €3.3m) from people after promising to double their money using magic, reports newspaper Arab News, citing the Saudi Press Agency.
The fraudster claimed he could use sorcery to boost their wealth, a provincial government spokesman, Aloush bin Fares Al-Sebaei, said.
He was identified by Riyadh’s central field committee, which is tasked with catching practitioners of exorcism, known as ‘ruqya’; folk medicine and interpreters of dreams.
No details were revealed about the number of people who were duped or whether they may get any of their money back.