RALEIGH, N.C. — A Wake County judge has ordered Holly Christina Photography and its two owners to turn over all paid-for wedding photos and videos and to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution plus more than $1.1 million in civil penalties, Attorney General Jeff Jacksons office said after a default judgment Friday.
Judge Craig Croom granted the judgment in the case Jackson filed in February against the company and owners Holly Christina Scott Ayscue and Christopher Owen Ayscue. The order also permanently bars them from photography or videography contracts, from running businesses that take advance deposits for those services, and from certain work with photo or video companies.
The Department of Justice said it had received 228 complaints about the company since January, with reported losses totaling nearly $600,000. Jackson sued after an investigation found couples and families paid for wedding coverage they never received.
In May a judge froze the defendants assets, ordered them to stop doing business in North Carolina while the case proceeded, and directed them to deliver outstanding photos and videos within 30 days. Jacksons September motion for default judgment said they did not comply or provide a verified customer list.
Jackson said the defendants did not appear to defend the case, so the court entered judgment by default. His office now has 30 days under the order for the company to hand over remaining images, and he warned that refusal could bring a contempt hearing.
The judgment requires a full customer list with addresses and a description of what was delivered, giving the attorney general a roadmap to get photos back to couples who have waited months for ceremonies that cannot be restaged.
