Cynthia Bailey’s ‘Bailey Agency’ Gets Accused of Fraud

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Another day, another “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star gets accused of running a shady business.

Peter Thomas made headlines recently after he was accused of not paying the rent for his “Bar One” Atlanta location and he was even slapped with a lawsuit. But now his wife Cynthia Bailey’s “Bailey Agency” is being accused of shady practices.

According to CBS, a consumer is claiming that Cynthia is allegedly accepting money but not following through with her end of the bargain.

The customer, Dorothy Lewis, claims she submitted a photo of her daughter to the Bailey Agency’s website and paid a fee so her daughter could enter to be featured on the website and get some promotion. But apparently the site hasn’t been updated in months, although Cynthia is allegedly still accepting money and photos:

So after seeing Bailey on Real Housewives of Atlanta, Lewis looked up her agency and found a photo contest for babies and kids.

“The only thing I had to do was submit her photo and then I had to submit an entry fee on the website,” Lewis explained.

Lewis paid $20 to enter Paris into the “big kid” category for the month of January.

The Bailey Agency promise? Each month a winner will be chosen in each category with the winners featured on TheBaileyAgencySchoolofFashion.com.

“To me it’s like playing the lottery. Your chances are slim but what if? That would be exciting if you win,” Lewis said.

The problem? The Bailey Agency hasn’t updated the winners since October 2013, but the site has continued to collect money.

“It’s just not right to be advertising that you’re going to do one thing and take people’s money from around the country and you’re not following through on what you’re saying,” Lewis said.

And to add to the drama, CBS did some digging and found out that it states on the company’s website that the Bailey Agency is supposed to donate some of the proceeds made to the Atlanta Diaper Relief. However, the non profit folded about six months ago.

When Cynthia was put on blast by Lewis and CBS, she responded and claims she had no idea the non profit folded. But to make matters right, Cynthia now says proceeds from now on will go to Tameka Raymond’s non profit, Kile’s World.

Despite Cynthia’s promise to start updating the site regularly and be on top of the contests from now on, CBS claims Cynthia has collected $1580 through 79 entries, while the site hasn’t been updated since October.

But Cynthia feels being put on blast was negative approach to handle a situation she doesn’t feel is as bad as it’s being made out to be. She tells CBS:

“First of all I think that’s a very negative approach to the whole situation, that’s not like their $20 wasn’t being used for what it was intended for. It’s just a matter of us being in transition on our side and we were just behind on the website. But now it’s updated.”

Cynthia also says she will make sure the contest is handled appropriately next time, and she will issue out a refund to anyone who wants one.

She also released the following statement to CBS too:

“The program is not revenue driven. The Bailey Babies Contest was created in the spirit of giving moms with young babies a platform to give their children exposure. This was a fun & inexpensive way to involve young babies in the school since they are obviously too young to participate in any of the other school programs that are offered. The program was also developed for the purpose of extending our brand out to people outside of the Atlanta area that support and want to be a part of The Bailey Agency. I apologize for any negligence on my part as far as my staff not keeping the website properly updated. I hope after receiving all the correct and updated information from me personally, you can appreciate the sincerity of my intentions. I appreciate you for bringing this important matter to my attention. I can assure The Bailey Babies mommies that this will not be an issue going forward. Thank you for providing the opportunity to address this matter.”