Under Investigation: The Inside Story of the Florida Attorney General's Investigation of Wilhelmina Scouting Network, the Largest Model and Talent Scam in America

THE WORLD’S LARGEST talent and model scouting company, led by celebrity boy-band promoter Lou Pearlman, recruited over 150,000 members across America from 2000 to 2003. Based in Orlando, Florida, this enterprise operated under many names: Studio 58 Models; WHY Models; eFashionShow.com; emodel.com; Options Talent; Trans Continental Talent; Wilhelmina Scouting Network; and Web Style Network. It charged upfront fees ranging from $395 to $995 to put an aspiring model’s picture on their website, a service purportedly used by 1000 modeling agencies seeking new talent. “You could be discovered,” their army of talent scouts pitched. “Become a model!” “You have the look!”Extremely controversial, subject to many local news reports, it also received national attention in Jane, Newsweek, and on Dateline NBC. More than 2000 complaints were filed with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, many with signed and notarized affidavits from consumers who felt they had been scammed. An investigation, led by Assistant Attorney General Jacqueline Dowd, was opened in July 2002.Everyone expected Attorney General Charlie Crist to act. But he didn’t. Why not? Using previously secret documents obtained through public records requests, Under Investigation takes you inside the Florida Attorney General’s Office to see how the two-year investigation unfolded, and then was ultimately shut down under suspicious circumstances.