Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Business

Touts jailed for fraud over ticket reselling ordered to pay £6.2m

by December 15, 2022
December 15, 2022
Touts jailed for fraud over ticket reselling ordered to pay £6.2m

Two ticket touts who were jailed for fraud related to large-scale ticket reselling have been ordered to pay £6.2m in a confiscation order.

Peter Hunter, 53, and David Smith, 68, were sentenced to prison in February 2020 after a three-month trial in which the married couple were found guilty of fraudulent trading and possessing an article for fraud.

Their case was the first successful prosecution related to large-scale ticket fraud. Together the couple ran BZZ Limited, which they used to buy and resell hundreds of tickets at inflated prices for concerts by musicians including Ed Sheeran, Madness, and McBusted, as well as shows such as the West End play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

They benefited from their crimes by a total of £8.8m between May 2010 and December 2017, including a net profit of £3.5m in the last 32 months of the fraud. The court on Wednesday gave them three months to pay back the £6.2m or face an additional eight years’ imprisonment, according to National Trading Standards, which carried out the investigation into the fraud.

Hunter was first exposed by a Guardian investigation into touts and their relationship with “secondary ticketing” websites, which allow buyers to resell tickets for events. National Trading Standards began investigating the pair several months later.

Hunter, who was sentenced to four years in prison, and Smith, who was sentenced to 30 months, were found to have used dishonest and fraudulent tactics to purchase multiple tickets from primary ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster, Eventim and AXS. They used tactics such as using other people’s names, addresses and emails to evade detection systems, and automated bots to speed the purchase of tickets in bulk.

They also engaged in “speculative selling”, listing tickets for sale that they did not own at hugely inflated prices, before trying to find them at cheaper prices to make a profit.

Ruth Andrews, National Trading Standards’ regional investigations manager, said: “Today’s result concludes a landmark case that demonstrates once and for all that dishonestly buying large quantities of tickets and reselling them at inflated prices is an unacceptable, illegal and fraudulent practice.

“All too often fans looking to buy tickets to sport events, music concerts and other high-profile events find that official tickets sell out in minutes before reappearing on secondary ticketing sites at vastly inflated prices. This can have a significant financial impact on consumers and I hope this groundbreaking case helps drive long-term changes in the secondary ticketing market.”

Hunter and Smith appealed against their convictions, but they were rejected by the court of appeal in November 2021.

Read more:
Touts jailed for fraud over ticket reselling ordered to pay £6.2m

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Showdown talks over rail strikes planned as country comes to a standstill
next post
Bank of England raises interest rates to 3.5%

You may also like

Unlock Global Opportunities with Professional International SEO Services

October 21, 2024

Recent Form and Training Camp Buzz: Factors to...

September 17, 2024

Royal Mail Owner Ready to Accept Improved Offer...

May 16, 2024

Chancellor’s £7.3bn green gamble aims to boost UK...

July 10, 2024

UK ‘energy crisis hotspots’ identify areas at greatest...

August 22, 2022

House prices started to rise again in 2023,...

January 5, 2024

A third of SMEs in Britain set to...

August 8, 2022

Swiss court orders Lidl chocolate bunnies to be...

September 30, 2022

Cost Comparison: Dental Treatments in Turkey vs. the...

April 22, 2025

Small businesses being offered support to go green

October 10, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Call with China’s Xi, and Trump-Musk exchange fueled barbs during 20th week in office

      June 7, 2025
    • Trump’s conservative allies warn Congress faces critical ‘test’ with $9.4B spending cut proposal

      June 7, 2025
    • Tech ETFs are Leading Since April, but Another Group is Leading YTD

      June 7, 2025
    • TIMELINE: Inside the evolving relationship between Trump and Musk from first term to this week’s fallout

      June 7, 2025
    • Deadly drone wars are already here and the US is horribly unprepared

      June 7, 2025
    • Week Ahead: NIFTY’s Behavior Against This Level Crucial As The Index Looks At Potential Resumption Of An Upmove

      June 7, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,152)
    • Investing (2,019)
    • Politics (15,564)
    • Stocks (3,136)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved