Talent agency that prompted complaints resurfaces

An Australian-run talent agency which hit the headlines this year after a string of complaints has reappeared under a new guise in Wellington.

Last month, The Press outlined complaints about Tabitha Talent Management, run by Courtney Elice and her mother, Sandi Alexander, alleging unpaid bills, unfulfilled promises and damaged property.

The latest complaint is from a Wellington woman about a website called tvplus.co.nz.

The website is registered to Alexander. The website advertised in The Dominion Post on December 5, seeking babies and toddlers in Wellington for photographic and television work.

The Wellington woman, who asked to remain anonymous, paid $170 to register her two children with tvplus.co.nz on December 10.

The Wellington mother was provided with a contact cellphone number by a woman at tvplus.co.nz.

The number is the same as one provided by a Tabitha Talent message service in Christchurch, which directs callers to Elice or Alexander.

After realising she had registered the children to a company linked to Tabitha Talent, the Wellington woman asked for her money back and for her children to be taken off the site. She complained to police, who wrote to tvplus.co.nz last weekend.

The children's pictures were removed, but the woman is still waiting to get her money back.

The Press made several attempts to contact tvplus.co.nz and Tabitha Talent yesterday, but calls went unanswered.

The Tabitha Talent website says the company is now owned by a man called Phil Asher.

Alexander is due to appear in the Christchurch District Court on Friday. She is charged with forging a passport on September 18.

- © Fairfax NZ News