More Than 800 People Scammed By South Jersey Photographer Can Now Retrieve Their Photos
By Robin Rieger
BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ (CBS) -- Tim McManus and Tara Purden were married in 2007.
On Tuesday at the Burlington County Office of Consumer Affairs, he was able to retrieve wedding photos on discs that they paid $1600 for but say their photographer Jack Holton never fully delivered.
They only got 4 x 5 photos with the word "proof" on them.
"I couldn't make copies," said McManus, of Gloucester City.
And he's not alone.
Yvonne Meli, a volunteer in the department, is trying to find contact information for over 800 people whose names are on wedding, Bar/Bat Mitzvah and christening photo discs or videos from 1998 – 2009 that are now stored in the office.
"I'm trying to locate the people, which isn't easy to do because you have to look at the discs to find out who they are. He kept no records," Meli said.
Holton operated under the name Renaissance Photography and Weddings Unlimited in Cinnaminson, Palmyra and Medford. He spent about eight months in prison 2010 for defrauding customers.
"He told us to call back, and by the time I went up to the office, it was closed,"
McManus said.
"I have a list here of all the names that are on our website. It's 23 pages," freeholder Mary Ann Obrien said. She also said that she hopes people watching who may not have gotten their photos will contact them.
"To have gone this long without their photographs--it's terrible, it's unconscionable," said Office of Consumer Affairs Director Renee Lita Borstad.
"Now that I have them, it brought back a lot of good memories," said McManus.
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