Liverpool tickets touts in £1m scam
2008-03-04 10:06:20
TWO tickets touts made up to £1m selling Liverpool tickets for huge prices before laundering their profits through on-line gambling sites.
Unemployed Jason Metcalf and Mathew Barrigan illegally sold vast numbers of tickets for popular Liverpool games at vastly-inflated prices over two years.
An investigation into the scam led to three members of Liverpool’s ticket office staff being sacked.
No criminal charges have been brought against any employees.
The duo got hold of tickets for Premiership and European games costing as little as £25, but then fleeced Liverpool fans by selling them for as much as £130.
The pair then laundered the profits by using the cash to gamble online and at high street shops.
Metcalf, 36, of Foxhunter Drive, Liverpool, denied 76 charges of money laundering, but a jury at Liverpool Crown Court found him guilty. The counts amounted to a total of up to £1m – siphoned through gambling sites.
He was jailed for four years following the four-week trial in September.
His mother, Catherine, was cleared of all charges.
The jury found Barrigan, 46, of Peacehaven Close, Liverpool, not guilty of four charges, but failed to reach a verdict on a further 20.
He was facing a retrial last week, but on the day it was due to start, he pleaded guilty to four charges of money laundering.
Father-of-three Barrigan admitted offences totalling £49,950, but yesterday he was spared jail by Judge William George.
He was ordered to do a total of 700 hours of unpaid work in the community.
Anne Whyte, prosecuting, said: “Mr Barrigan accepts he was involved in the wholesale of Liverpool tickets, predominantly as part of packages involving accommodation and transport.”
She told the court he had secured hundreds of tickets for Liverpool against Chelsea, Manchester City and Spanish club Real Betis.
Inquiries are still on-going into the scale of the scam and prosecutors believe the pair could have made millions more.
Both men were caught following an investigation by Merseyside Police into large-scale money laundering.
Yesterday, Det Insp Allan James, who led the investigation, praised his staff and said work would now be carried out to strip the pair of their ill-gotten gains.
He added: “This was a complex investigation and inquiries are ongoing to identify assets for confiscation.
“We are delighted with the results of this operation.
“Merseyside Police will continue to attack all criminal economies and seek to take the profit out of crime.”
Unemployed Jason Metcalf and Mathew Barrigan illegally sold vast numbers of tickets for popular Liverpool games at vastly-inflated prices over two years.
An investigation into the scam led to three members of Liverpool’s ticket office staff being sacked.
No criminal charges have been brought against any employees.
The duo got hold of tickets for Premiership and European games costing as little as £25, but then fleeced Liverpool fans by selling them for as much as £130.
The pair then laundered the profits by using the cash to gamble online and at high street shops.
Metcalf, 36, of Foxhunter Drive, Liverpool, denied 76 charges of money laundering, but a jury at Liverpool Crown Court found him guilty. The counts amounted to a total of up to £1m – siphoned through gambling sites.
He was jailed for four years following the four-week trial in September.
His mother, Catherine, was cleared of all charges.
The jury found Barrigan, 46, of Peacehaven Close, Liverpool, not guilty of four charges, but failed to reach a verdict on a further 20.
He was facing a retrial last week, but on the day it was due to start, he pleaded guilty to four charges of money laundering.
Father-of-three Barrigan admitted offences totalling £49,950, but yesterday he was spared jail by Judge William George.
He was ordered to do a total of 700 hours of unpaid work in the community.
Anne Whyte, prosecuting, said: “Mr Barrigan accepts he was involved in the wholesale of Liverpool tickets, predominantly as part of packages involving accommodation and transport.”
She told the court he had secured hundreds of tickets for Liverpool against Chelsea, Manchester City and Spanish club Real Betis.
Inquiries are still on-going into the scale of the scam and prosecutors believe the pair could have made millions more.
Both men were caught following an investigation by Merseyside Police into large-scale money laundering.
Yesterday, Det Insp Allan James, who led the investigation, praised his staff and said work would now be carried out to strip the pair of their ill-gotten gains.
He added: “This was a complex investigation and inquiries are ongoing to identify assets for confiscation.
“We are delighted with the results of this operation.
“Merseyside Police will continue to attack all criminal economies and seek to take the profit out of crime.”
Chloe Griffiths at Liverpool Daily Post