Deceit by Design - another article about Anand Jon

I read another article again on the web about Anand Jon. It was saying that he was simply doing auditions for models, whether or not he had any work to give them or not. Please read the article:

Deceit By Design

When Newsweek magazine labelled Indian-born fashion designer Anand Jon as the "one to watch in 2007", little did it know how ironically prescient that prophecy would turn out to be. Jon, 33, who lists Paris Hilton and Janet Jackson among his many celebrity friends and clients, now finds himself in the harsh glare of the media spotlight following an arrest at his Beverly Hills apartment on March 6.

"He held auditions, whether or not he needed models. He was a fraud."

He has been charged with sexually assaulting five women and two girls, aged 15 and 17. At the time of going to press, Jon was in a Los Angeles County jail trying to muster the $1.365 million amount for bail, as his attorney told Outlook. An arraignment has been set for April 4.

"He held auditions, whether or not he needed models. He was a fraud."

The 15 counts of felony and five of misdemeanour include charges ranging from rape and sexual battery to committing a lewd act on a child. Initially accused of crimes against three women, on Monday Los Angeles County prosecutors added other charges involving four more alleged victims against Jon. The charges carry a potential life sentence.

The investigation was prompted by a complaint on March 5 from a girl—listed as "Jessie B."—who told detectives in Beverly Hills that Jon had assaulted her on the night of March 4. "He lured these girls to be models and, once here, sexually assaulted them," Jane Robison, a Los Angeles County district attorney's office spokeswoman said on Monday. She said there might be "numerous additional victims".

Jon's lawyer Ronald Richards called the charges "ridiculous". He admitted Jon knew the seven women "through his work" but said his client denied any "illegal sex" took place. His interview with Outlook was interrupted by a call from Jon. "He's doing great," the lawyer later said. "He doesn't understand why these charges are being filed, but he's looking forward to contesting them."

Richards alleged one of the girls associated with the complaint was an admitted drug user, lied about her age and had sex just prior to meeting Jon.

"He always had a lot of young girls in his apartment. He saw himself as royalty."

He said he had a security camera tape from Jon's building that showed the girl enter the designer's apartment in Beverly Hills. "She changed into pajamas and slipped into bed with him," Richards claimed. "My client is only 5'6" and 150 pounds. There were three girls in the apartment at the time. How could he rape them? They could have easily tackled him."

"He always had a lot of young girls in his apartment. He saw himself as royalty."

Richards has filed a motion to dismiss an assault claim first made in 2005, saying his client's rights were violated. On May 5, 2005, "Natalie P." told police in Ohio she had been raped by Jon on October 19, 2004. "Natalie P." is now among the seven alleged victims who have complained against Jon. Richards said there is "not a scintilla of corroborative evidence that any intercourse even occurred" with "Natalie P.".

Jon's family is standing firmly behind him. In a statement, they said the designer, "like everyone else in the court system is innocent until proven otherwise, not the other way around. In America, you're not supposed to be tried in the media, but everyone has a right to their day in court to defend themselves". The statement quotes Jon's sister Sanjana as saying she "firmly believes in the innocence of my brother. I've worked alongside him for many years and he always maintained a professional relationship with the workers, models and the volunteers".

The March 4 assault claim was made by a girl Jon met on Internet networking site MySpace.com. Jon's lawyer told Outlook his client had been chatting online with her for many months before he decided to pay for her plane ticket so she could visit him in Los Angeles. He wanted her to come over because he thought they would date, Richards explained, adding, "A lot of men in Los Angeles fly women in to date them." He said Jon has denied any illegal sexual activity took place.

Chris Hulbert, a former publicist for the designer, claimed Jon acted inappropriately towards his 19-year-old date at a Manhattan club in 1997. "He put his arm on her neck and said 'You have a very nice neck, would you like to have sex with me?'," Hulbert told Outlook. "She was freaked out."

Hulbert, who first started working with Jon in 1997, said that the experience "did not work out very well". He was also working for the 'Take Back New York' charity at the time and recounted how Jon would use it to host shows and then pocket the proceeds. "It's a bizarre twist to the story that the charity is an advocacy group for victims of paedophiles," Hulbert said. He complains the designer would dress his models in revealing clothes. "Every time they walked out onto the ramp, their breasts would be exposed. I was really disturbed by that," he said. Hulbert, who claims he helped Jon get noticed with a New York Post story headlined 'New Kid on the Block', ended his association with the designer after nine months. "I saw the guy as a creep—he was robbing everyone."

Teigan Annsaint, an electrical engineer living in Newport Beach, California, said Jon would call him every time he visited Los Angeles. He said he never saw Jon do "anything inappropriate with women". But, Annsaint also told Outlook, "every time he came to LA, he held auditions whether or not he needed models. It was a fraud. He had no work to give them. He was just promoting himself. I often heard he would tell women he could do a lot for them."

While the media and celebrities gush over Jon's designs, Annsaint maintained he "doesn't know a thing about design". He recounted an incident when Jon asked him to help put a show together and alleged the designer kept him shut in a room in a Manhattan apartment and forced him to sew his clothes. "I had no idea I'd be pressured into being free labour. He was never there designing, except when models were present," he claimed. The experience has left him bitter.

Hulbert echoed this complaint. "He always had a lot of very, very young girls living in his apartment in Manhattan. These models and aspiring models would sleep on little mats. Jon viewed himself as royalty, always playing the celebrity role. No one dares speak against him. Most of the girls were intimidated," he said.

A journalist with an Indian-American publication told Outlook that Anand had "no credibility with me, but it has often been tough to find proof of his shenanigans". Speaking on condition of anonymity, the journalist credited the Jon family's PR skills with keeping him out of trouble so far.

Ironically, among Jon's many upcoming projects is one in which he was to play a bad boy Indian fashion designer in a film by Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha. His previous TV experience includes appearing in several segments of the America's Next Top Model reality show.

Jon studied in Kerala up to the 7th grade, before moving to St Michaels Academy in Chennai. He came to the United States in 1991 at the age of 16. According to several reports, Jon was at an event in Milan when celebrity designer Giorgio Armani complimented his taste in clothing and inspired him to pursue a career in fashion. He then moved to New York to attend Parsons School of Design.

His troubles have begun taking a toll on his work—and his immigration status here. US immigration officials have placed Jon, who is reportedly in the final stages of his Green Card application process, on a detainer—in which the US Citizenship and Immigration Service seek custody of someone in the custody of another law-enforcement agency. On March 20, he was forced to cancel the debut of his new range of jeans in Culver City, California. His friends and admirers in the fashion industry rue how the promising Indian star has come crashing down to Earth.