A concert promoter was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for scamming investors in a $100 million fraud that included fake promises to buy and resell tickets to popular concerts and smash musicals including the blockbuster "Hamilton."
Joseph Meli, 43, of New York, was also ordered to forfeit more than $104 million during a standing-room-only hearing in Manhattan federal court attended by his family and some of his alleged victims.
Meli pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud last year for telling investors their money would be used to buy and resell tickets but instead he repaid previous investors, made payments on a house in the Hamptons and bought a Porsche convertible and watches and jewelry.
“Meli directed his own version of a Broadway production, where the lead character deceives investors into giving him money that he pockets and spends on himself, or uses to pay off other investors,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement.
Meli and Steven Simmons, 48, of Wilton, Connecticut, were both charged in January 2017 with helping a hedge fund manager raise money to repay earlier investors and stealing the cash. Simmons pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to 37 months earlier on Tuesday. The hedge fund manager, Mark Varacchi, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.
The case is one of several involving misconduct in the ticket resale business that is increasingly being targeted by federal prosecutors in New York. Hamilton’s success drove Broadway revenue to an all-time high of $1.45 billion in the 2016-17 season, according to the Broadway League.
Springsteen Tickets Hit $10,000, and Wall Street Gets Scalped
A former math teacher, Jason Nissen, last week pleaded guilty to ripping off investors of more than $60 million through a Ponzi scheme disguised as an effort to buy or sell tickets to concerts, musicals and sporting events.
Former radio sports talk radio host Craig Carton and Michael Wright were charged separately in September with scamming investors including a New York hedge fund of millions of dollars in a ticket-resale scheme for concerts including Adele and Katy Perry. Both have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go on trial in October.
Meli’s lawyers had asked Wood to sentence him to no more than 27 months, saying the married father of four has led an "extraordinary life" full of good deeds and noting the more than 100 letters sent on his behalf from people in "all walks of life." Meli stood and apologized to his family and investors, looking around the packed courtroom as he spoke.