Fortune teller brainwashed client into becoming prostitute and lived off her earnings

A clairvoyant in Japan has been forced to pay a woman she brainwashed into becoming a sex worker. Photo / Getty Images

A clairvoyant in Japan has been forced to pay a huge sum of money to a woman she forced into sex work.

Tokyo District Court ruled that the fortune teller, who has not been named, must pay the victim £640,000 (NZ$110,000), according to the Daily Mail.

Presiding Judge Sotaro Tomuro ruled that the seer brainwashed her client into believing she owed her money and then forced her to pay off the debt by becoming a sex worker.

The clairvoyant then took nearly all of her income, thought to be around £640,000.

In his ruling on Wednesday Judge Tomuro said: "The fortune teller fuelled the woman's fears by leading her to believe that she owed her a lot of money," according to TheJournal.ie.

The fortune teller reportedly persuaded the victim to move into an apartment she owned in 2011 and ordered her to pay for rent and other costs through sex work.

The situation continued until 2013.

The victim sought 100 million yen in damages.

The woman first met the fortune teller in 2008 and came to depend on her advice.
But the psychic reportedly sometimes made the woman live on little more than the equivalent of 80 pence (NZ$1.30) a day.