A Roslyn man who last week was sentenced to up to five years for running a modeling agency that scammed thousands of dollars off the parents of aspiring child stars was back in court on Thursday to learn he would be spending even more time behind bars, prosecutors said.
James Muniz, 44, received a six-month sentence before Nassau County Court Judge William Donnino for a misdemeanor violation of a protection order for his ex-wife in 2011.
He will also serve between 2 ½ and five years and repay $236,000 in civil judgments to victims of New Faces Development Center, Inc., whose employees persuaded clients into purchasing the company’s services in exchange for opportunities with major retailers that prosecutors said did not actually exist.
Muniz is due back in court on June 20 for a pre-sentence conference on the modeling agency case, prosecutors said.
Muniz and four others were charged in September 2013 and later indicted in December at the conclusion of a joint investigation by the offices of Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that included complaints from more than 100 New Faces Development Center victims who said they paid the agency up to $5,100 for its services.
“This defendant, along with his employees, ran a company that was based solely on preying on the desire of parents to give their children a better life – one filled with money, success, and stardom,” Rice said in a statement last week. “Our offices will continue to fight to recover the money owed to these families, and to bring anyone responsible for this despicable scam to justice.”
Upon the announcement of charges against him, Muniz fled New York to live with family in Florida but was later extradited by law enforcement officials, prosecutors said.
Associates from New Faces Development Center Inc. – also known as Model Talent Development Corp. – told clients at shopping malls in Queens and Long Island that they had a “look” which suggested they would be successful in the entertainment industry, prosecutors said.
But Rice and Schneiderman’s investigation found that those scouted by the two companies were pressured into repeatedly paying up to $3,000 for the agency’s services and rarely, if ever, secured employment through the agency.
Prosecutors said New Faces Development Center Inc. exaggerated its connections to the entertainment industry and rarely found employment for their clients, though it provided photographs and exposure on the website Gigacomps.com for an additional fee. Months would then pass without clients receiving a phone call from the agency.
Many clients were told their children had received multi-year contracts with retailers like Macy’s, Toys R’ Us, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, the Children’s Place, Target and JC Penny but would lose those opportunities to other aspiring child stars if they did not enter into additional agreements with the agency, prosecutors said.
