Karen Favis Carlos, the owner and manager of Glamworks Events Management, has issued an official statement with regards to the accusation of one of her previous clients that she is a scammer. Carlos posted the statement on the official website of Glamworks Events Management a day after a post accusing her of being a scammer went viral on Facebook.

It can be recalled that a couple of days ago, Jemerson Mamaril (a former client of Carlos) posted on Facebook a long article detailing what transpired last July 18 when he married his fiance Erin Santos. According to Mamaril, Carlos failed miserably in her duties as the couple's designated wedding coordinator.

Mamaril claimed that he holds receipts and contracts related to the wedding that weren't actually there at the wedding. These include receipts for flowers that weren't there, receipts for a limousine that weren't there, and receipts for a catering company. The couple soon learned that the catering services weren't actually paid although they handed over nearly half a million pesos to the coordinator a few months prior. [Read: Wedding Coordinator in Manila Accused Of Stealing Millions Of Pesos From A Balikbayan Couple]


Below is a full copy of the official statement released by Karen Favis Carlos through the Glamworks website.

"It is with regret that the Wedding of Jemerson Mamaril and Erin Santos last July 18, 2015 at Fernbrook Gardens, Daang Hari, Muntinlupa City did not go smoothly as it should be. My husband, Perry Carlos III, went to the event to personally see to it that the wedding, though not perfect, will push through as scheduled. Majority of the suppliers were paid and settled on the night of the event, some were issued checks (that were cleared, suppliers can attest to this) to cover for their corresponding payments.

I will forever regret the lapses that I may have committed, as it affected a lot of people. The recent Facebook post as well as the number of shares, likes, reposts, as well as the bashers who, unfortunately, included my whole family, affected us deeply. Dragging my family into this mess was uncalled for, as we are already in touch with the couple’s lawyer since the evening of the event. We are also looking into seeking assistance with the Anti Cyber-Bullying task force to see if something can be done about the malicious comments that arose from the post, given the fact that there was a photograph of my whole family with my then 1 ½ year old daughter in it.

I am not convicted of any crime, nor am I running away from any authorities. I am seeking for the kind understanding of everyone to at least, give me a chance to straighten things out. I have been in the Wedding Industry since 2010 handling over 100 couples. I am not a serial scammer, a fly-by-night Coordinator nor a thief. We look forward to settling this legally, without having to ruin my name and my family. Please spare some thought for my family, most especially my 3 year old daughter who is starting to understand what is going on in our household.

It pains me so much to see her suffering due to the fact that I haven’t been tending to her the way I do. I would like to take this opportunity to thank people who saw best not to comment nor repost. That small act means a lot to us. Please continue to pray for us as we try our best to pick up the pieces. Finally, I would like to apologize to the couple for the pain this has caused. I understand that I may not gain your sympathy, but please know, from the bottom of my heart, that I am truly sorry for what happened. God Bless everyone and thank you for taking the time to read this."

A female wedding coordinator in Manila is being accused of carting away millions of pesos from a balikbayan couple who just recently returned home to the Philippines in order to get married. In a long post that he published on the social networking site Facebook, Merjerie Mamaril Lanzaderas (the groom) detailed what transpired between him, his wife and a female coordinator he identified as Karen Favis Carlos. The gist of Lanzaderas's post is that Carlos scammed him and his wife of millions of pesos that were supposed to have been spent on their wedding day.

According to Lanzaderas, he and his fiance got engaged sometime in 2014. They are both based overseas. And since most of their friends and families are still living in the Philippines, the couple planned on getting back home to get married. They decided to hire a wedding coordinator based in the Philippines to oversee the wedding preparations. With the recommendation of a friend, the couple got in touch with Carlos and hired her as their wedding coordinator. Also in 2014, the couple met with Carlos and her family to iron out the details of the wedding. The couple also made the necessary downpayments for the services needed in the upcoming wedding.

Everything seemed to be in order after the meeting with Carlos. But things got really messy on the wedding day which happened on July 18, 2015. According to Lanzaderas, Carlos didn't show up, she can't be contacted on her phone, and she deactivated her Facebook account. Carlos's assistants arrived at the venue but Carlos herself never showed up. That was when Lanzaderas realized that they may have been scammed.

Lanzaderas enumerated several things that he claims were supposed to have been handled and paid for by Carlos. These include the following:
1. There were no flowers waiting at the hotel where they were booked. The groom said that it was his wife's dream to have flowers by Teddy Manuel, a leading floral designer in the Philippines. But there were no Teddy Manuel flowers at the hotel. The worst part is that the groom says he holds receipts and contracts saying that the flowers were paid for two months prior. At the wedding, the couple's entourage didn't have any flowers. There were also no flowers at the church. And the bride used a bouquet of flowers that were bought from a store.
2. There was no bride's limo as well. The groom also holds a receipt given to him by Carlos showing that a limo from Don Robert's Bridal Cars was paid for months prior.
3. At the venue of the after-wedding party, the ballroom wasn't what the couple expected. The groom said that they paid for the venue's most expensive package but they were only given the basic services. The groom also lamented that the DJ as well as the event emcee were different.
4. The catering services were not paid. Lanzaderas said that they have paid nearly half a million pesos for the catering services and that they have a receipt for it.
Lanzaderas suspects that the receipts and contracts that Carlos gave to him and his wife were fake and forged. They called Teddy Manuel and the latter confirmed their worst fear - there was never a contract between them at all. According to the groom, the contract with Don Robert's Bridal Cars was faked as well.

In the end of his Facebook post, Lanzaderas exclaimed that Carlos "looked decent and trusting but she is the most heartless person" they have ever met. Lanzaderas also warned other people who might come across Carlos and her wedding services.

A quick search on Google about Karen Favis Carlos shows that she is the owner and manager of an events management firm called Glamworks. In the firm's website, it describes itself as "a full-service event planning team, specializing in Weddings and Corporate Events conceptualization, planning and coordination services". Carlos is named as the company's Managing Director.

You can read Lanzaderas's Facebook post here .

Update: Karen Favis Carlos has released an official statement about the issue. Carlos posted the statement on the website of Glamworks Events Management. Read it here .