Two former Queenstown residents have been fined $27,000 and ordered to refund $19,125 by the Southport Magistrates Court, for falsely claiming they were affiliated with high-profile casting agents.
Cassandra Thomas, also known as Sandi Alexander, and her daughter Courtnie Thomas, also known as Courtney Elice, were each charged with nine counts of making a false or misleading claim while running Fenwick Actors and Models.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in Queensland, Australia, said the court in Queensland heard the two women advertised a casting workshop in Sydney and stated two high-profile casting agents would be involved.
They charged $2375 per person for the workshop, which did not go ahead.
In September last year, the Otago Daily Times reported the two women were under investigation by the OFT, having received six complaints from customers of Fenwick Actors and Models and a former employee about the business' practices.
That investigation found the casting agents in question had never heard of Fenwick or the workshop.
The pair were fined $13,500 each and ordered to pay back a total of $19,125 in fees for the actors' workshop to nine complainants.
An OFT spokesman said neither of the defendants appeared in court and convictions were recorded against each of them.
Alexander had previously been prosecuted by the OFT - in October 2010 she was fined $2500 for failing to provide information during the investigation of her business.
Earlier in 2010, both women were convicted of fraud in the Queenstown District Court, Elice having checked into hotels in Queenstown and Christchurch under false names and racked up more than $2000 in bills.
Alexander was convicted at that time of using false documents.
On July 12, 2010, they allegedly breached their sentences of community work.
A year earlier, they faced complaints about their talent agency - Tabitha Talent Management - from clients in Australia, Christchurch and Nelson.
