VIA SPORTY AFROS

As an avid former reader of The Moptop Maven’s (MTM) blog, I’ve been following the controversy surrounding her this year pretty closely. I started following her blog in early 2010 right after I BC’d. I didn’t know anything about bloggers or scammers, etc. so I took her blog at face value. She had great information about hair, product recipes, product reviews, food recipes, fashion, natural skin care solutions, blog posts about inspiration and self-enlightenment, and she seemed so freakin’ genuine. I never thought in a million years that she would be accused of scamming anyone. The one thing I did find EXTREMELY odd was that in all of the personal information that she divulged about her life  she never once mentioned a job. Yet, she had all of these fabulous clothes, money to buy hair product ingredients, support her daughter, eat at nice restaurants and be on the scene in LA. I just thought that maybe she had a sugar daddy or something and I left it alone since, after all, it’s none of my business. Then in January 2011 she disappeared off of the face of the earth. Honestly, I was worried about her.  Even though I didn’t know her, I felt  like I had gotten to know her through her blog posts (corney, I know, but that’s how much I loved her blog).  Then I started reading the negative comments about her jewelry store, Frank and Myrrh.  People mentioned how orders were never filled after they paid her money and they couldn’t get in touch with her. Next, the post about her being sick surfaced and that really invoked my sympathy. I thought to myself… this poor girl is struggling to be healthy and people are bashing her for not filling a $40 order?! They need to give her some time. Now that some time has passed, I’ve found some fishy information about MTM through some internet and forum searching.  According to DivaDee62 on BGLH forum MTM is a serial scammer. DivaDe62 alleges the following: 2009-2010?  Nikole (aka the Moptop Maven) starts Ebay Soap Supply Business. Allegedly Scams some folks, fakes death to get out of refunding money and/or sending product. 2009-2010? Nikole starts Etsy Vintage Clothing Store which abruptly closes. 2009-2010? Nikole starts Frank & Myrrh Blog/Jewelry store. Takes orders, Allegedly scams some folks and disappears. 2010? Nikole reappears as The Mop Top Maven blog. Amasses a large following, “opens” Frank & Myrrh Jewelry Store. Nov/Dec 2010 has blow out sale, scams some folks…counts reach possibly 200-250 orders not fulfilled or refunded. She disappears. Feb 2011 Reappears online only to tell folks she is oh so sick… “Mom and Grandma” post on various blogs co-signing the daughter’s illness. No refunds. No products. June 2011 People on various messageboards report seeing MTM out and about in L.A. living life and looking good. June 2011 Enso Naturals Appears. Founder “Dee Cole” aka Nikole Denise Crowe is face camera shy but not too shy to post pics of her hands under another pseudonym to give store Rave Reviews. September 2011 to INFINITY: Fools still gonna give this nutbag their money despite mounds and mounds of proof that Nikole D. Crowe is a low-rent half a#$ Grifter; a Thousandnaire living in Hollyweird trying desperately to keep up with Claudia Jordan and her crew of delusional gold diggers. Then to add insult to injury, I happened to see a tweet mentioning that MTM was in Nelly’s Hot in Here video, which in and of itself isn’t really a big deal, but she seemed to live by the mantra of self-enlightenment, inspiring others, etc. and there she was dancing around like a video ho?? I was baffled. There are a lot of other rumors going around as well, but I’m just going to stick to the ones that concern her blog and her allegedly scammed customers. Here is the bottom line, no one except those who know her personally know exactly what’s going on. Period. People can speculate all day. She could be a scammer or it could genuinely be a big misunderstanding. If she is in fact a scammer, that’s really unfortunate and I hope it doesn’t have negative repercussions for all of the other natural hair bloggers and online stores embraced by the natural hair community that are honest, genuine and care about their followers, subscribers and customers. If MTM is up to no good then God will take care of that…It’s not our place to try and right her alleged wrongs.  All people can do is drop it and move on. That’s just my two cents…

I have to say that Alexandria pretty much said everything i feel about this situtation. I mean, I never bought anything from her and i was a big fan but the evidence being mounted against her is becoming too much to ignore. For example, the fact that she said she was not the owner of Enso Naturals... and then THIS document surfaces, found by the women on LHCF that is basically the smoking gun saying she is. So what exactly is a Fictitious Business Name Statement?

To answer this question, it is important to understand what a fictitious name is and how it is used. Simply put, a fictitious business name is one that does not use the business owner’s name. Corporations are generally exempt, as are businesses that use the individual proprietor's own name. If you are doing business as (d/b/a), John Doe or Widgets Incorporated, then you don’t need a fictitious name. However, American Widget Partnership run by John Doe will need to comply with fictitious business name rules. Filing a Fictitious Business Name Statement Complying with these rules includes filing a fictitious business name statement. This filing is required by law in order to connect the name of a business to the business owner. This protects consumers because it allows them to get information about the owner of a company if they have consumer problems or need to file a lawsuit. Depending on your state law, most businesses that operate under a fictitious name are required to complete a fictitious business name statement, publish the statement in a newspaper of general circulation, and then record this information with the county recorder where the business is located. Filing is also required to open a business checking bank account in the name of the business. Banks will generally not open a business account without your filed copy of your DBA registration certificate. Note that some banks may also ask you for your business license. For the business owner, it allows the person to set up a single entity to operate multiple businesses without creating a new entity for each or undergoing the expense of forming a corporation. For example, you can sell your widgets in a brick and mortar location and have a sales website using the same fictitious name.

No i was not the one to dig up any of this information. Various women from various forums did this and i make no claim that i have. Do i think she's guilty? That's not for me to say BUT what i can say is i sincerly hope(d) she wasnt because i am a fan of her's and a lover of her hair. I just hope that there is a really big and GOOD explination for this mess. If your going to buy from someone online tho, now there history and do your research.