Dawn J. Bennett once had it all—a thriving career as a financial advisor, a luxury sportswear brand, and a national radio show that flaunted her supposed financial wisdom. But behind the glossy façade, Bennett was orchestrating a massive $20 million Ponzi scheme that preyed mostly on vulnerable, elderly investors. What began as bold promises of safe, high returns turned into a web of lies, fraud, and ultimately, bizarre rituals straight out of a hoodoo handbook.
Operating through her company DJB Holdings, Bennett promised investors annual returns of 15% or more, luring them with visions of easy, secure wealth. Instead of growing their money, she siphoned funds to maintain her lavish lifestyle. From spending hundreds of thousands on astrological jewelry and cosmetic procedures to leasing a $500,000 luxury suite at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium, Bennett was living like royalty—while her investors were left in the dark.
As federal investigators closed in, Bennett’s desperation reached supernatural levels. Rather than facing her mounting legal problems with a lawyer and a clear head, she turned to ancient hoodoo rituals, hoping to magically silence the SEC attorneys investigating her crimes. Authorities discovered beef tongues in her freezer, each embedded with the initials of SEC lawyers, following a ritual spell designed to "shut up" her enemies. Instructions for the spell were also found among her personal effects, laying bare her belief that magic could do what money no longer could—buy her way out of justice.
But no amount of hoodoo could save Bennett from the law. In July 2019, she was convicted on 17 counts, including securities fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud, and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. The court ordered her to repay more than $14.5 million to her victims—many of whom trusted her with their life savings and were left financially devastated.
Bennett’s case stands out not just for the scale of the fraud, but for the surreal desperation that colored her downfall. Financial crimes often involve deception and greed, but rarely does the story veer into the occult. Her willingness to try ancient spells in the final moments of her crumbling empire paints a haunting portrait of delusion and decline.
Today, Dawn J. Bennett serves as a chilling reminder of how easily ambition, unchecked by ethics, can spiral into tragedy. Investors believed they were buying into a future of prosperity; instead, they became collateral damage in a story that reads more like a twisted fairytale—one where even magic couldn’t undo the damage done.