Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WEST VALLEY CITY — A man who allegedly printed and sold fake all-access passes to a recent Utah concert is under investigation for possibly making counterfeit concert tickets to other shows too, police said Tuesday.
The man has not been arrested or formally charged. But West Valley police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku confirmed that charges were being screened against a 40-year-old man who just moved into the area about two weeks ago.
The investigation began July 26 when security at the USANA Amphitheatre began to notice several people trying to get into the G-Eazy and Lil Uzi Vert concert with all-access passes. Those passes, however, turned out to be fake.
"The front had a picture of the four headlining artists and holographic images printed on the front. The rear of the pass had the number '028 AA' with a QR code printed beneath it. The entire pass was encased in laminated plastic and was attached to a plain black lanyard," according to a search arrant affidavit filed in 3rd District Court.
When the venue manager was asked how he knew the passes were fake, he "produced a paper which was provided by the artists’ management team. This paper had all the valid designs for approved VIP, all-access and backstage passes. None of the valid designs had the image shown on the provided pass," the warrant states.
Thirteen people went to the concert that night believing they had found a great deal on an all-access pass online, but were sold a counterfeit pass instead, according to the affidavit.
A West Valley police officer spoke to one of the concertgoers with the counterfeit passes. He said he found a person on KSL.com who was selling the tickets for $70 each. The man said he communicated with the person selling the tickets through text messages only.
When the man was about to go buy the tickets, the seller told him he had to run an errand and that he would leave two envelopes on top of a mailbox: one with the tickets, and the other for him to leave his money, the warrant states.
Vainuku said investigators later learned that the same person sold all of the fake concert passes, and each time, the seller came up with an excuse not to meet the buyer in person. All transactions were done by dropping off envelopes, she said.
The officer then used the cellphone of the man who had purchased a fake ticket, and texted the seller back saying he needed one more, the warrant states. The detective went to the spot where he was told to put the money in an envelope and collect his ticket. Another officer in an unmarked police car watched the events unfold nearby.
After the detective dropped off the money, the officer holding surveillance observed a man come out of an apartment across the street, walk over and take the money, the affidavit says.
Detectives confronted the man who claimed he had acquired the fake passes from another venue in Seattle but was unaware they were fake, the warrant states. But when police asked how he got the tickets, the man declined to answer any further questions without a lawyer present.
Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the man's apartment. Inside, they found "numerous electronic items including a laptop computer, several external hard drives and thumb drives were found on the kitchen table," the affidavit states.
"Near to the equipment were more fraudulent G-Eazy concert passes and numerous other passes for other artists in various stages of completion. Several envelopes from a Costco photo center were found on the table and contained professionally printed images of QR codes and band logos which were used to create fraudulent passes," according to the warrant.
Vainuku said there was evidence that the man had attempted the same scam in other cities.
Police were prepared to arrest the man at that time, but it was determined he would be refused at the jail because of a recent medical condition, she said. Formal charges were pending Tuesday.
