LEEDS, UK (CelebrityAccess) — Two men, purported to be the leading ticket resellers in the UK, have been found guilty of fraud in a case that may have wider ramifications for the secondary ticketing industry.
According to The Guardian, Peter Hunter, 51, and David Smith, 66, who did business as Ticket Wiz and BZZ, employed a wide range of techniques in obtaining approximately £4m worth in event tickets
The tickets were obtained via including multiple accounts under different identities and through the use of automated ticket-buying software for shows by artists such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, as well as West End theatricals, Crown prosecutors alleged.
The tickets were then resold on a variety of secondary ticketing marketplaces, including the now shuttered GetMeIn and Seatwave, as well as Viagogo and StubHub for a healthy markup of £10.8m, according to prosecutors.
The two men, who prosecutors alleged were “dishonest fraudsters motivated by greed” were found guilty of fraudulent trading and possessing an article for fraud at the conclusion of the three-month trial in Leeds Crown Court.
The convictions mark the first time bulk ticket resellers have been successfully prosecuted in the UK.
The two men are scheduled to be sentenced on February 24th.
