Bob Nygaard
private detective specializing in psychic fraud
Bob Nygaard is an American private investigator (PI) specializing in the investigation of confidence crimes, most notably psychic fraud. He has been instrumental in the arrest and conviction of numerous psychics, helping their victims obtain justice including financial restitution amounting to millions of dollars. He has consulted for ABC News and 20/20 as a specialist in psychic fraud. Nygaard previously was a member of the New York City Transit Police and Nassau County Police Department, retiring from service in 2008.
In 2018, Nygaard appeared as himself in episode "The Psychic Didn't See Him Coming" of the CBS true-crime show Pink Collar Crimes, which portrays his investigations of the crimes committed by self-proclaimed psychic and convicted fraudster Gina Marks. In 2021, Nygaard was featured in "The Psychic Con" episode of the ABC TV series The Con.
Nygaard is sympathetic to psychic fraud victims whom, he says, law enforcement authorities often fail to take seriously. He is also an outspoken critic of the inconsistent prosecution of this type of crime across the United States, and advocates for prison terms for convicted psychics, rather than merely forced restitution to their victims.
Early life
Nygaard was born in Queens, New York City, and raised in the Long Island suburb of New Hyde Park. While in high school, he played on the varsity baseball, basketball, and lacrosse teams.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bob Nygaard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.