KISSIMMEE, Fla. – It pains Cindy Amy to think of the $2,000 she lost after paying Max Wasserman of Party Masters of Kissimmee to throw her daughter's Sweet 16 party.
Amy said all the money she saved suddenly vanished after she received a letter from Wasserman saying the party was off and detailing his plans to file for bankruptcy.
"Everything (my daughter) wanted, Max promised her," Amy said. "Now she doesn't have it."
School officials from The Cruz Institute said they ran into a similar situation after putting down $1,200 for an October graduation.
"I have no place to go because he didn't commit to the contract that he said," said Karina Morelli, of the institute.
Carmen Ruiz said she gave Wasserman $7,500 for her daughter's quinceañera.
"I planned that for two years and now I cannot even do it," she said.
The women are among more than two dozen people who, according to Wasserman, gave him money for parties that will not happen.
Many of them are now scrambling to make do, to throw some kind of party. But not Brenda Chavez and her fiance, who put down more than $6,000 for a dream December wedding. With their money gone, they are no longer having a reception.
"He was gonna (provide) everything for us," Chavez said. "The food, the decorations -- everything."
Many of these would-be customers found Party Masters through the internet and said Wasserman told them he'd throw the perfect party for one price, or he offered steep discounts if they paid in cash.
"Who wouldn't take 30 percent off the whole thing, right?" Chavez's fiance said.
Now, these victims want Wasserman to pay them back or go to jail.
Wasserman told News 6 over the phone that he moved to California on Sept. 1 and is staying with family. He added that he was living in his office, but he was evicted.
He also admitted that he's $150,000 in debt, mostly to vendors, and that he's "in the process" of filing for bankruptcy.