Toronto talent agency co-founder accused of withholding $600K in wages from clients

The co-founder of a Toronto talent agency that abruptly shut down last year is now facing charges after police say that more than $600,000 in wages were withheld from clients.

Police say that the accused worked as a director for Compass Artist Management Inc. between August 2020 and October 2022.

According to police, clients of the business all signed contracts which stated that they would receive a percentage of their wages from their acting assignments with the remaining percentage going to Compass.

Police, however, allege that more than 60 victims represented by the company never received their full wages.

The company then abruptly shut down operations “effective immediately” in October of last year.

At the time eight former clients who spoke with CP24.com said that they were owed thousands in back wages.

Police also confirmed then that they had opened an investigation after receiving more than 50 complaints but months went by without any arrests in the case.

In a news release issued on Wednesday, police confirmed that 57-year-old Daniel Friedman, of Toronto, was arrested at the end of July and charged with fraud over $5,000 and theft exceeding $5,000 in connection with the alleged fraud.

The allegations against Friedman have not been tested in court.

In an emailed statement to CP24.com last November, Friedman did not specifically comment on allegations that wages were not remitted to clients but said that he was “extremely concerned and heartbroken” over the demise of Compass.

“Stories like this usually involve someone trying to trick people out of their money so they can move it to a bank account off shore. This isn’t the story here. I am in the same boat as everyone else,” the statement read.

Police continue to appeal to anyone with information about the case to contact investigators.