Charges have been laid and the investigation by Vancouver Police continues after a Surrey man was arrested in connection to a series of alleged concert ticket frauds.
Police began an investigation after reports that an individual was using Craigslist to advertise and find buyers looking for concert tickets. Most cases involved a buyer that e-transferred funds into a bank account or email address provided by the suspect and received concert tickets in return. Others involved a face-to-face meeting where tickets were exchanged for cash. The problem occurred when the tickets provided by the seller were later determined to be fake.
Investigators also discovered a number of cases where no tickets were provided and the seller broke off all contact with the buyer after the money transfers were made.
These frauds occurred in Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Surrey between August 2012 and November 2013.
On December 5th, investigators executed a search warrant at a home in Surrey and arrested the 22 year old resident.
Amritjot Singh Randhawa has now been charged with six counts of fraud under $5000 and one count of use forged documents. The investigation is ongoing and further charges may be recommended based on additional information received throughout the Lower Mainland. Randhawa’s next court appearance is scheduled for January 27, 2014.
There are inherent risks for consumers when they buy anything through someone other than a legitimate retailer. Police want to caution the public when they purchase tickets from someone they do not know online. Whenever possible, verify the tickets are legitimate through a retailer before purchasing them.
Anyone who believes they were sold fraudulent concert tickets by Mr. Randhawa, or attempted to purchase tickets from him, and has not spoken to police, is asked to call VPD non-emergency (604)717-3321 and report the incident.
