Ponzi Broadway Ticket Scheme Sees Jail For Schemer

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOSEPH MELI was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 78 months in prison by the Honorable Kimba M. Wood. Between 2015 and 2017, MELI solicited approximately $100 million in investments from 130 investors through false representations that MELI would use investor funds to purchase tickets to various live events for resale at a profit on the secondary market. MELI pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses on October 31, 2017.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Joseph 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. Today, however, Meli’s Ponzi scheme is over, and he will serve prison time for his crimes.”

According to allegations in the superseding Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court, previous court filings, and statements made in public court proceedings:

From 2015 through January 2017, MELI conducted a scheme to defraud more than 130 investors who invested a total of more than approximately $100 million through false representations that MELI would use investor funds to purchase tickets to various live events for resale at a profit on the secondary market. In fact, MELI utilized a substantial portion of the investor funds he obtained for his personal expenses – including payments for a $3 million house in East Hampton, New York, a 2017 Porsche convertible, and expensive watches and jewelry – and to make payments, in a Ponzi-like manner, to previous investors in MELI’s ticket fraud scheme and in an unrelated hedge fund.

In furtherance of the fraudulent scheme, MELI falsely represented to investors that he had entered into written agreements with production companies for popular Broadway shows and with management companies for popular singers and music bands (together, the “Production and Management Companies”) to purchase large blocks of tickets to the shows and performances. As part of this deception, MELI provided investors with falsified documents purporting to reflect agreements between MELI’s company, Advance Entertainment, LLC, and the Production and Management Companies. In truth and in fact, MELI had not entered into such agreements and did not have any contractual rights to purchase such tickets from the Production and Management Companies.

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In addition to his prison sentence, MELI, 43, of New York, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release; ordered to forfeit $104,765,565, representing the amount of proceeds obtained as a result of his fraudulent scheme; and ordered to pay restitution.

Mr. Berman praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elisha J. Kobre and Brendan F. Quigley are in charge of the prosecution.

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DLA Piper announces partnership promotions for 2018

DLA Piper Partner Promotions 2018

DLA Piper is proud to announce that 62 lawyers have been promoted to its partnership. The promotions are effective as of April 1, 2018 in the United States and May 1, 2018 for EMEA and Asia Pacific. The promotions were made across many of the firm’s practice areas in 42 different offices throughout 20 countries.

Across the firm’s practices globally, Litigation and Regulatory saw the largest intake of new partners with 16 promotions, followed by Corporate with 14 promotions. Tax and Finance and Projects both had eight. Real Estate and Intellectual Property and Technology had six and four promotions respectively, while there were three in Employment, two in Government Affairs and one in the firm’s US Office of General Counsel.

In total, there were 19 promotions in the United States, six in Canada, ten in the United Kingdom, 18 across Continental Europe, two in Asia, two in Latin America, two in the Middle East, two in Australia and a further one in South Africa. A full list of partner promotions by office and practice is included below.

Simon Levine, Global Co-CEO of DLA Piper, commented, “I would like to congratulate all of our lawyers who have been promoted to partners this year. This round of promotions brings to our partnership another highly talented group from across the world who represent the quality, breadth and depth of DLA Piper and are vital to the continued success of our business.”

Jay Rains, Global Co-CEO, added, “We are delighted by the promotion of this talented, diverse group of top-caliber lawyers. Their client work and importance to the firm are now a foundational part of our ongoing success and our ability to evolve to meet the challenges of the market, and they will play a key role in our delivery of legal services of the highest quality and value to our clients around the world. We look very forward to their ongoing contributions.”

Full list of partners by office:

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Michiel Coenraads, Litigation and Regulatory
Leen van der Marel, Real Estate

Atlanta, United States
Jeremy Corcoran, Corporate

Austin, United States
Rebecca McKnight, Government Affairs

Baltimore, United States
Kathleen Birrane, Litigation and Regulatory
Thomas Grace, Tax

Bangkok, Thailand
Don Rojanapenkul, Litigation and Regulatory

Birmingham, United Kingdom
Phillip Kelly, Litigation and Regulatory

Boston, United States
Brian Awe, Real Estate
Andrew Sroka, Finance and Projects

Brussels, Belgium
Laurent De Surgeloose, Employment

Bucharest, Romania
Alina Lacatus, Corporate

Calgary, Canada
Ryana Mather, Corporate

Chicago, United States
Ferlillia Roberson, Intellectual Property and Technology

Dubai, UAE
Richard Hughes, Corporate
Jamie Ryder, Intellectual Property and Technology

Edmonton, Canada
Veronica Monteiro, Corporate

Frankfurt, Germany
Christian Lonquich, Real Estate
Carlos Robles y Zepf, Corporate

Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Christina Loh, Corporate

Houston, United States
Grayson Stratton, Litigation and Regulatory

Johannesburg, South Africa
Janine Simpson, Litigation and Regulatory

Kyiv, Ukraine
Illya Sverdlov, Tax

Lisbon, Portugal
Vanessa Antunes, Litigation and Regulatory

London, United Kingdom
Chris Arnold, Corporate
Joel Cooper, Tax
Randall Fox, Tax
Steven  Krivinskas, Finance and Projects
Christina Lawrence, Litigation and Regulatory
Kelly Lovegrove, Tax
Peter Lowe, Real Estate
Bryony Robottom, Finance and Projects

Los Angeles, United States
Andrew Hoffman, Litigation and Regulatory

Madrid, Spain
Juan Gelabert, Finance and Projects
Ricardo Plasencia, Corporate

Miami, United States
Chad Ehrenkranz, Corporate

Milan, Italy
Alessandro Ferrari, Intellectual Property and Technology
Alessandro Martinelli, Tax
Davide Rossetti, Litigation and Regulatory

Minneapolis, United States
Poonam Kumar, Corporate

Moscow, Russia
Philip Lamzin, Finance and Projects

New York, United States
Evan Parness, Employment

Northern Virginia, United States
Joe Davis, Office of General Counsel

Paris, France
Myriam Mejdoubi, Real Estate
Theobald Naud, Litigation and Regulatory

Perth, Australia
Alyson Eather, Finance and Projects

Philadelphia, United States
Brian Robinson, Litigation and Regulatory

Phoenix, United States
Jared Jensen, Corporate

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Luiz Augusto Osorio, Corporate

São Paulo, Brazil
Carolina Marcondes Sant’Angelo, Corporate

Seattle, United States
Kate Lucente, Intellectual Property and Technology

Sheffield, United Kingdom
Alastair Clough, Litigation and Regulatory

Silicon Valley, United States
SeoJung Park, Tax

Sydney, Australia
Eddie Ahn, Tax

Toronto, Canada
Russel  Drew, Finance and Projects
Leslie Frattolin, Employment

Vancouver, Canada
Morgan Burris, Litigation and Regulatory
Michael Mjanes, Real Estate

Warsaw, Poland
Andrzej Balicki, Litigation and Regulatory
Tomasz Rudyk, Litigation and Regulatory

Washington DC, United States
Brad Jorgensen, Government Affairs
David Ridenour, Finance & Projects

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