'Molly' Bridgelalsingh, in purple.
Once again, Ramnarine 'Molly' Bridgelalsingh - the cross-dressing, far-from-attractive head of the Vikash Dancers, and 'her' partner Mahendra Rampersad are fleecing impressionable young girls seeking a moments fame and glory.
Posing as beauty queen promoters they have, for years, taken advantage of these girls - who by now ought to know better than to associate with these conmen.
One look at their website shows the monumental egos... both faces appear in photos several times on the same pages... advertising that they wear several hats within the organisation of course. Certainly that blatant advertising is not necessary.
But back to how they fleece these girls. One report by the TnT Mirror confirms some of their poor skills in organising or treating guests.
Some other discrepancies in their modus operandi:
It seems they (Molly and Mahendra) tie the girls into a contract where they have to:
- Share their winnings 50% - 50% with the organisation, AFTER expenses are deducted. Usually prizes that are delivered to them to be handed over are picked clean of what they want and whatever remains is passed on to the winner.
- Contracts are usually signed in the few minutes before the girls go on stage, so they have no time to read it or have their lawyers look it over. If they refuse, they are not allowed to participate in the final competition.
- The girls have to put out ALL expenses for their competition, including the entrance fee and the cost of travel etc. The company does NOT lose and pocket quite large sums, mostly in US dollars.
- Article 20 of the contract states: "All appearances and or other activities I am required to attend as title holder for the duration of my reign, all expenses including transport, outfits, hairstyle, make-up, shoes, etc., and any other cost incurred will be the expenses of the title holder and the title holder will not be reimbursed by Pageant Producers or the organisation at any time whatsoever."
No lie. This was exposed by the Trinidad Express newspaper in its Woman Magazine some time ago. Doesn't that quote from their contract in point 4 tell a lot?
It is odd though - looking at this article showing names of previous winners - reveals that most of these persons are now on the staff headed by these two con artistes. An attempt at buying their silence?
I feel for these gullible twits, but as the saying goes, 'if yuh doh hear, yuh goh feel'.
