Ticket Company CEO Pleads Guilty to Ponzi Scheme
Jason Nissen pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud, after being charged with taking more than $60 million from investors he said was going to his premium ticket business.
March 28, 2018 at 05:23 PM
2 minute read
Photo Credit: iStock
Jason Nissen pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges Wednesday for duping investors out of more than $60 million in a sporting and entertainment events ticket Ponzi scheme, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman's office announced.
“As he admitted in court today, Jason Nissen's pitch to investors about access to premium sports and entertainment tickets was a sham,” Berman said in a statement. “His investment scheme was really a Ponzi scheme. Now he awaits sentencing for his admitted swindle.”
Nissen was charged last May by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York with promoting his ticket wholesale business as an opportunity for investors, even as he used their money in classic Ponzi scheme style, repaying other victims while enriching himself.
According to reports and the U.S. Attorney's Office, Nissen's NECO.com purported to be a leader in VIP access and premium tickets to events of all kinds. Investors were told their money would go to purchase bulk quantities of in-demand tickets to such events as the Super Bowl, World Cup, “Hamilton,” and Adele concerts.
To keep the fraud going and raise additional sums, prosecutors say Nissen falsified financial documents and inflated accounts receivable ledgers, which he then presented as proof that monies were being used as he promised investors they would be.
Nissen was ultimately caught after admitting to two separate victims, including an equity investment fund, that he had fabricated the numbers he'd provided them, was running a Ponzi scheme–”[B]orrowing from Peter to pay Paul,” as Nissen explained it, according to court documents—and that he needed more money to pay off his debts.
Nissen's attorney, private attorney Michael Bachner, said in a statement that his client did not, in fact, “benefit personally from any of his actions,” and is “utterly remorseful for any harm he may have caused.”
“From the moment Mr. Nissen voluntarily brought his misconduct to the attention of the U.S. Attorney's Office, he has acted diligently to help the trustee to recoup the loans,” Bachner said.
Nissen faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He's scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21 by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York.
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