Child Modeling Scams
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
May 28, 1999, Friday, Palm Beach EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL, Pg. 3B
LENGTH: 414 words
HEADLINE: BOCA-BASED TALENT AGENCY DUPED CLIENTS SEEKING STARDOM, SUIT SAYS
BYLINE: MITCH LIPKA; Staff Writer
BODY:
Paula Hoo Kim-Lowe has seethed for two years over the $ 644 she paid to Screen Test USA after being told her toddler, Giovanni, could be a star.
The company's claims, the buildup and, finally, the letdown were overwhelming, the Davie woman said. Since then the Boca Raton-based office of the business broke away from Screen Test USA, a franchiser of talent evaluation firms, and became Tomorrow's Stars -- a company with a pile of consumer complaints against it.
The Florida Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit in Broward County Circuit Court against Screen Test USA, Tomorrow's Stars and their principals this week, accusing them of deceiving their clients, who came from all over South Florida. Tomorrow's Stars regularly runs TV ads on Miami and West Palm Beach stations.
Andrew Gold, attorney for Tomorrow's Stars and its owners, Edward and Helen Bauer, could not be reached for comment.
New Jersey-based Screen Test USA was also sued this week by the Federal Trade Commission, attorneys general in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and the consumer protection departments in New York and Connecticut.
The legal actions assert that the companies misled parents and clients into believing they or their children would have a career in modeling or acting. After paying a $ 45 "evaluation" fee, clients who passed the screening were charged several hundred dollars to have their photos taken, attend seminars and get a list of agents.
Nearly every client who was screened was given top ratings. And the clients got virtually nothing in return for their fees, said Assistant Attorney General Robert Julian of the economic crimes unit in Fort Lauderdale.
"They'd get basically a list of agency names they could have gotten from the phone book and pictures they could have taken themselves," he said. "It really is incredible what they did."
Julian estimated Tomorrow's Stars was grossing about $ 500,000 a year. The lawsuit he filed asks for a $ 10,000 penalty per violation and restitution.
Julian has about 35 complaints on his desk and expects more.
"We don't make any false claims," Bauer told the Sun-Sentinel in January. "Does everyone get work? No. And we tell that to parents."
Kim-Lowe said she is glad about the lawsuits.
"I'm thrilled," she said. "They said they were doing something for the kids, and they weren't. Those pictures were just really a rip-off."
Mitch Lipka can be reached at mlipka@Sun-Sentinel.com or 561-243-6630.
LOAD-DATE: May 28, 1999
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