A former “America’s Next Top Model” judge is more like “America’s Top Swindler,’’ a Manhattan lawsuit charges.
Nolé Marin, owner of the AIM Model Management agency in Manhattan, is facing allegations that he cheated two models and a booker out of $500,000 in wages, driving them “directly into poverty while he enjoyed a high lifestyle . . . funding his personal vanity with dinners and trips,’’ court documents say.
Marin, also a judge on ABC’s “True Beauty,” paid Yves Saint Laurent model Devon White and Russian strutter Iana Khanashevich a fraction of what they should have received from jobs, the civil suit says.
“White never saw most of the money he was owed by Marin for all of the work he did as a model for YSL,” court papers say.
The pay was so paltry that the male model could barely afford to pay for basics such as groceries, the suit says.
Marin also pocketed nearly all the cash that clients paid for shoots with Khanashevich, the suit says.
The agency head allegedly used “fantastical excuses” to cheat his staff, including whining that he couldn’t pay booker Darrin Judkins because he was hospitalized for gout.
The checks Judkins did pry out of Marin bounced, the suit says.
Marin also spoke English to Khanashevich, who was not fluent, in order to deceive her, court papers say.
Marin has evaded paying them for more than a year, yet the models are stuck with AIM because they signed exclusive contracts, the suit says.
On the rare occasions when Marin offered cash, he insisted it be off the books, the suit says.
“Marin transferred money from AIM to himself personally in order to avoid tax obligations to the IRS, state of New York and city of New York,” the suit says.
Paul Liggieri, the lawyer for the models and Judkins, said their suit reveals an ugly truth about modeling.
“There is a misconception that most models live a glamorous lifestyle,” he said. “However, the truth of that matter is that most of these individuals are simply hardworking people in pursuit of a dream. Unquestionably, it is a shame that Mr. Marin turned their dreams into a nightmare.”
Marin did not return messages seeking comment.