| 22 September 2011
Be warned: "Ticket touting is an illegal business..."
Vigilance can confirm a man who arrested for ticket touting at an Arsenal game has been fined and given a confiscation order.
Vigilance learnt that Hitesh Mistry, 48 (dob 1/5/1963), of Abbeville Road, London SW4 was arrested on 5 March near the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal were playing Sunderland.
He was convicted on 21 September at Blackfriars Crown Court of fraud Mistry, fined £1,500 and a confiscation order was made in the sum of £11,916.
According to a Met source between October 2010 and March 2011, he falsely represented that Arsenal FC tickets sold by him through two internet websites were valid for entry to the ground. In fact, the tickets were not transferable, and were invalid for anyone other than the person to whom the ticket was issued.
DCI Nick Downing, leading Operation Podium said: "Ticket touting is an illegal business run by people seeking to gain financially through the exploitation of clubs and their fans. Genuine fans need to be aware they are not only fuelling criminal activity when they buy from a tout, but also putting themselves at risk of paying over the odds for non-existent or fraudulent tickets. This is also a risk of having personal and credit card data stolen.”
DCI Downing warned: "With tickets for the Paralympic Games now on sale, don't get caught out. Follow our simple and easy advice to make sure the ticket you buy is real. In the UK the only official place to apply for tickets is through the London 2012 application process."
About Operation Podium
Operation Podium is a dedicated team within the Met's Specialist Crime Directorate. Established in June 2010, the team is funded through the Home Office Olympics safety and security budget.
The remit of Podium is to prevent and investigate a range of serious and organized crime affecting the Olympic economy. Podium was created based on experience from previous Games around the world, major concerts and sporting events that has shown the range of crimes that criminals may be planning to carry out involving London 2012.