ST. LOUIS – St. Louisans Emilia Rizzuto and April Berkovich own very different businesses but have strangely similar stories about a health and wellness magazine some may have seen around St. Louis.

“I’d heard of it. I’d seen it on the shelf. It’s been around for a long time,” Rizzuto said.

They say when the magazine’s founder approached them about marketing themselves and their businesses in the publication.

“Seemed like it made sense,” Berkovich said.

Both women say they signed contracts and paid thousands of dollars to be prominently featured in the magazine.

FOX 2 is not yet naming the magazine or its owner yet, but Emilia and April tell Contact 2 the magazines they paid to be in were never published. 

They say their contracts were also supposed to include involvement at the “Live Your Power Expo & Speaker Summit” planned for January at Plaza Frontenac in St. Louis. 

The event didn’t happen.

A mall spokesperson told FOX 2 the event was never even scheduled.

“We kept thinking the event is happening, and then it’s like,” Rizzuto said. “And that’s when the magazine’s going to finally come out with the event. Anytime we’d ask a question, it was just pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed until finally she vanished. That was it.”

Emilia and April are among a group of nearly a dozen women around the country who allege the magazine’s founder owes them hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Some say they bought marketing and media packages that included magazine appearances that were never published; others say they’re owed money for work they did with the magazine.

April shared an email response from the founder. In it she wrote: 

“Yes, I am trying to stay in business and keep moving forward and get you your refund.”

And after Contact 2 contacted the founder, Emilia says she got an email back from her asking if she was “able to get a refund back with her credit card.”