Landmark jail sentence that should make every ticket tout quake in their boots
PRISON FOR MILLIONAIRE SCALPERS Fraud convictions for pair whose racket to fleece fans earned them £9.3m
TWO millionaire scalpers were jailed yesterday in a case that sent shockwaves through the murky world of ticketing.
Slippery Peter Hunter, 51, and David Smith, 66, were given four years and 30 months respectively after a jury ruled their racket was simple fraud.
The couple used employees, family and other associates to generate a massive bank of credit cards for company BZZ Ltd, which were spun through ticketing systems via slick computer browsers to make them millions.
During the landmark hearing in Leeds, it emerged that between 2010 and 2015, BZZ sold tickets with a face value of more than £17million for more than £26million – a gain of £9.3million, all at the expense of real fans.
Ed Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp gave evidence in the pair’s long-running trial, telling jurors they had decided to take a stand against touts after spotting £75 seats at a Sheeran charity gig on sale for £7000.
The decision at Leeds Crown Court means all industrial-scale touts in the UK – many of whom have been exposed in the Record – could now face jail for their crimes against pop fans.
And the fraudsters could face their assets, including their homes, being taken from them under Proceeds of Crime laws.
Andrew Newman, far and away the worst supertout in Scotland, is one who will be quaking in his shoes.
He has admitted using mum Carole, dad Gary, brother Chris and staff members to generate multiple identities as he made millions from defrauding fans.
After the bombshell sentences were handed down, top ticketing investigator Reg Walker said attention should be turned to the law-breaking websites that encouraged the fraudsters, raking in many millions as they happily sold the ill-gotten briefs.
Walker said: “The Proceeds of Crime Act states quite clearly that any fraud being committed should be flagged up to the relevant authorities.
“The major touts who have made millions from these enterprises should have their assets taken from them – and there should now be a major investigation into the way sites such as Viagogo and StubHub have colluded with the touts over a period of years while UK fraud laws have been breached left, right and centre.
“Hunter and Smith used deception to make themselves appear like consumers but it would have been as clear as day to secondary sales sites that they were selling a volume of tickets that could not have been secured without underhand tactics.”
Walker said the role of Live Nation should also be examined, as its company Ticketmaster sold thousands of tickets to touts and then allowed resale on its secondary sites Get Me In! and Seatwave. Both sites were shut down after Hunter and Smith were arrested.
Adam Webb, of consumer group FanFair Alliance, echoed the call for a major probe into secondary ticketing platforms.
He said: “It’s a fantastic result for National Trading Standards and for music lovers across the UK and should also send shockwaves through the likes of Viagogo and StubHub, whose businesses are dependent upon large-scale resellers.
“By facilitating the activities of online touts, there must be concerns that the platforms themselves are profiting from the sale of tickets unlawfully acquired by their biggest suppliers.
“This should be investigated as a matter of urgency and lead to action against those platforms if they have benefited from the proceeds of criminality.”
Hunter and Smith were found guilty of three counts of fraudulent trading and one count of possession of articles to be used with fraud after a three-month trial.
Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said: “The terms and conditions of the primary selling sites made it clear they should not be bought for commercial purposes. You bought hundreds of tickets at any given time and resold them for more than twice the price.
“You have used the company for a fraudulent purpose to make gains for yourself. A lot of people in this case paid a lot more than they could have paid.”
Lord Toby Harris, chairman of National Trading Standards, said: “This is an important milestone in the fight to tackle online ticket touts who fraudulently buy and resell tickets to thousands of victims to line their own pockets.
“The sentences send a strong message to similar online ticket touts – these are criminal offences that can lead to prison sentences.
“I hope this leads to a step-change in the secondary ticketing market, making it easier and safer for consumers buying tickets in the future.”
Viagogo, StubHub and Ticketmaster were contacted for comment.