Under Investigation: The inside story of the Florida Attorney General’s investigation of Wilhelmina Scouting Network, the largest model and talent scam in America.

ISBN-0968713335 Paperback 512 pages $29.95

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Modeling Industry Gossip

The Las Vegas Weekly has pulled advertisements for models by someone they accused of scamming them. The ads ran for six years. The socalled photographer who advertised for glamour models is now reacting, spreading malicious lies.

Francesca Detolomei, the ready-for-retirement, in-her-60s (?) Italian chick from Beverly Hills, who sells photography in the US, because she wasn't deported, has been sighted in Orlando at Fashion Rock and at MAAI, according to two sources, still selling photography to aspiring models after the Los Angeles DA busted her a$$ in a photo mill scam. The only DA-prosecuted photo mill case in LA that EBC is aware of. There are pictures on her website foliofoto.com of her in her youth, according to someone who met her; the site itself didn't identify the pictures as being of her.

Lou Pearlman, Mark Tolner, and company have been sued by Les Henderson for a bogus lawsuit they filed against him. Even Pearlman's lawyer has been named as a defendant for mistakenly and recklessly suing him. Alec Defrawy, the person who started beiconline.com, was also sued. A lot of other defendants have been named in the package suit. They are all apparently under the false impression they can get the case dismissed because of lack of jurisdiction, assuming the US law applies in Canada (where Henderson is). But the court where it was filed has already decided it has jurisdiction in internet cases; it ruled against the Washington Post. Unless his lawyers are better than the WP lawyers, Pearlman could lose over $1,000,000.

Former employee(s) of John Robert Powers/IMTA started IPOP, the new modeling convention started in the last year which is as expensive, if not more expensive, than IMTA. IPOP has apparently replaced IMTA as the major client of John Robert Powers. IMTA is none too happy about this development. Losing the JRP account, according to a rumour, has led to a lawsuit by IMTA against IPOP/its owners (non-compete violations?). JRP represented probably 1/3 to 1/2 of IMTA's sales leads (split with Barbizon Modeling Schools and John Casablancas development centers or modeling schools). IPOP, however, a source says, have no idea if their new convention will be a success. Have they set the price too high ($7,000)? Who has 7K nowadays to flush down a convention drain. IPOP scheme is to seek sponsors for the event. Rumour has it that Ron Patterson, owner/president of JRP, is trying to sell John Robert Powers for $140m.

The people behind the infamous Pro Images Studios (Pro Images International) scheme sold the business to their photographer Allen Coefield after being hounded by the Clayton County DA's office. EBC had provided the DA's office contact info on a web page about Pro Images Studios (PIS) for people scammed. They called and the DA investigated. The DA's investigation included calling the owner of PIS who told them EBC should be investigated instead of him. It looks like he got so scared of being prosecuted for fraud he sold the business before he was arrested.

"Tiffani," a model wrote in about an agent in Florida whom she says, writing from an AOL account (not yahoo/hotmail), tried to set her up; she alleged the "agency" is running a prostitution ring. This agency is quite successful, and its owner fairly well known.

Just wanted to let ya'll know about a couple of strange things that have
happened:

1) - One day, out of the blue, I received a phone call from a man saying
that he got my private cell phone number from a modeling agent in Florida
named [. . .] [. . .] (whom I have NEVER heard of). According to him, she said I
was one of her models living in LA, and I could probably use his help. He
told me he wanted to be "my mentor" and help me financially. He said he was
an attorney. I got freaked out and googled her name, found a listing for her
agency in FL, and called her. She told me she never gave my number out, and
didn't know the guy, but that she was familiar with my name ( I have had a
couple of tv shows) and was going to be "scouting" in LA the following week,
would I like to come meet with her. I blew off the meeting.

 

2) -  A couple of weeks later, [. . .] [. . .] called me and said, "Hi, [. . .], I
don't usually do this, but a friend of mine in LA saw your pic in Maxim (I
have never appeared in Maxim) and called me to see if I knew you. He told me
that he would give you $2000 just to spend a couple of hours with you. I've
sent some of my girls from FL out there to him before, and they loved him!
Would you be interested?"

 

Now, let me ask you this, she's "never done that before" but she's sent
girls out here to him??? I informed her that I am not a prostitute, and was
absolutely appalled at her call, and to leave me alone.

 

Have ya'll received any other complaints of this nature about this woman?