Two men face jail over $1.35m concert fraud

Two scammers face up to 20 years in prison after admitting a $1.35 million (€1.25m) fraud over a fake concert scheme in the US.

Terronce Morris, 41, of Missouri City, Texas, and Blake Kelly, 36, of Los Angeles, California, swindled a promoter out of $1.35m between December 2019 and March 2020, under the pretence of financing a music festival purportedly featuring acts such as Justin Bieber, Post Malone and Billie Eilish.

According to the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, the pair instead used the money to “enrich themselves and finance a lavish lifestyle for themselves and their accomplices”, spending it on travelling, luxury goods and services, and dining at high-priced restaurants.

Morris and Kelly forged the artists’ signatures to create “several false and fraudulent” performance contracts. Additionally, they had an accomplice pose as Bieber during a video call to trick the victim into believing the singer had agreed to perform at the festival in Texas.

Morris and Kelly pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft

The victim subsequently sent three wire transfers to Morris and also mailed him a $200,000 cheque made payable to Bieber, which Morris then deposited into his own personal account.

Morris and Kelly pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in Miami federal court. The Miami Herald reports the pair were charged in Miami because much of the communication happened while the victim was visiting South Florida.

Morris and Kelly, who will be sentenced in May and March, respectively, face up to 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, as well an additional two years in jail for identity theft.

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