Money laundering case registered in Diljit's concert ticket sale 'scam'

By Sandy Verma On Oct 27, 2024

New DelhiNew Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it detected alleged irregularities in a money laundering case after it conducted raids to probe 'black marketing' of tickets for two 'much-awaited' concerts of British rock band Coldplay and actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh. Is. 13 people were arrested in five states – Delhi, Maharashtra (Mumbai), Rajasthan (Jaipur), Karnataka (Bengaluru) and Punjab (Chandigarh) – after the federal probe agency registered a criminal case under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Searches were conducted at various places. While the 'Dil-Luminati' concert by Dosanjh is scheduled to be held over the weekend of October 26-27 at the Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium in the national capital, the Coldplay event 'Music of the Spheres World Tour' is scheduled to be held in Navi Mumbai in January 2025. Will go.

The ED in a statement said it has initiated the investigation after several reports surfaced suggesting that individuals and fans were being “frauded/cheated” through “fraudulent” ticket sales following the rapid sale of entry passes. Used to be. The agency took cognizance of several police FIRs lodged in the matter across the country, including one lodged by online ticket booking portal BookMyShow against several suspects “suspected of exploiting concert-goers.” The ED said the FIR alleged that these people were taking advantage of the high demand for these prestigious concerts and were engaged in selling fake tickets at highly inflated prices. It said the concert was an “electrifying” and “highly anticipated” announcement for music lovers across India. It said both the events generated a lot of excitement and official ticketing partners like BookMyShow and Zomato Live reported that tickets were sold out within minutes on their platforms, which “ultimately led to black marketing of tickets at exorbitant prices.”

The agency said many fans found they were sold counterfeit tickets or were charged exorbitant prices for legitimate tickets. “The searches and investigation conducted by ED have yielded information about several people who are known to sell fake tickets through social media using Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram,” the agency said. The ED said that during the raids, several “incriminating” material in the form of mobile phones, laptops, SIM cards etc. used in the ticket sale “scam” were seized. It said the aim of the raid was to unearth the illegal sale of tickets, the financial networks supporting these scams and the proceeds of crime generated from such illegal activities. In a related development, the Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Centre's response on a plea seeking a regulatory framework to regulate the resale of these concert tickets through authorized platforms. A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued notice to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, private entities StubHub Inc, Viagogo Entertainment Inc and Bigtree Entertainment Pvt Ltd. The court said the reply would have to be filed within four weeks and scheduled the hearing for February 18, 2025. The High Court is hearing petitions on alleged irregularities in ticket sales for these two concerts.