Modeling agency faces new investigation
Owner, a sex offender, had no state license
A Needham modeling agency run by a convicted sex offender now faces additional scrutiny from state licensing officials.
Marvel Models of Boston is ''under investigation" because it is not licensed to operate in Massachusetts, a requirement for all modeling agencies, said Robert Prezioso, commissioner of the state Division of Occupational Safety.
Needham police arrested Marvel owner Edriss Farazi, 26, of Framingham, on Aug. 31 for failing to register his work address on Highland Avenue with the state Sex Offender Registry Board.
Farazi pleaded not guilty in Dedham District Court and was held on $500 cash bail.
''We were aware of his operation," said Prezioso, who added that he wasn't ''aware the owner had a criminal history" until news of his arrest.
Farazi did apply for a license in the last two months, said Prezioso, but failed to complete the form, which requires consent to a criminal background check and an affidavit signed by two witnesses attesting to the owner's ''good, moral character."
Since news of Farazi's arrest, two women have reported to police that the agency charged them between $595 and $1,190 to cover costs for modeling assignments that never materialized, said Needham Police Sergeant Edward Callahan. Needham police first learned of the agency when Farazi reported a computer laptop stolen from his Highland Avenue office in April, said Callahan.
Within weeks, police received more than a dozen complaints from agency clients about the company's unfulfilled promises of modeling jobs and the fees charged for photos and contracts. That prompted police to conduct a basic criminal check that revealed Farazi's status as a ''moderate risk" Level 2 sex offender. Farazi had told the registry board he was a ''self-employed consultant" working out of his Framingham home.
The attorney general's office has received several phone calls from angry clients, but only one formal complaint has been filed since April, said spokeswoman Sarah Nathan, who declined to say whether the attorney general intends to look into the business.
Before the recent arrest, Farazi, a former Northeastern University student, had been convicted of indecent assault and battery of a potential client of
Farazi has been out on probation since February 2003. Farazi has not been accused of assaulting anyone associated with the Needham business.
Court records indicate Farazi had also purchased a modeling franchise in Cincinnati and was planning to open others in Las Vegas, Albequerque, Long Island, N.Y., and Canada. But in April 2003, Farazi had a falling out with an Orlando, Fla.-based parent company, eModel.com.
Farazi sued company officers and several other corporate entities they operated under for ''schemes to overcharge, defraud and otherwise scam" him out of his share of fees charged to customers, according to court records. The company terminated Farazi's franchise agreement in 2003, alleging that he conducted ''an elaborate ruse" to hide income and withhold payments from them, court documents show.
Christina Pazzanese can be reached by e-mail at cpazzanese@globe.com.
