A federal grand jury has indicted an Orange County poker pro for allegedly bilking investors out of more than $6 million in a suspected Super Bowl and World Cup ticket-flipping scam.
The indictment charges Seyed Reza Ali Fazeli, 49, of Aliso Viejo with two felony counts of wire fraud tied to a Las Vegas-based ticket business that Fazeli ran named Summit Entertainment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday
According to the indictment, Fazeli from May 2016 through at least May 2017 raised $6.2 million from investors in Orange County, Houston and Las Vegas by promising to purchase tickets to the 2017 Super Bowl and the 2018 World Cup and then resell them at a “substantial profit.”
Federal prosecutors said the investors wired the money to Summit – which also operated under the names onlinetickets.com and pacertickets.com – but did not receive the promised profits from the events.
The indictment alleges that Fazeli falsely claimed to the investors that the NFL prohibited the resale of tickets, and that he was working on a “settlement” with the league. But, according to prosecutors, Fazeli never actually purchased the tickets, instead using the money from investors on gambling and gambling debts at the Aria and Bellagio casinos in Las Vegas, among other personal expenses.
“A large portion of investor funds were used for the personal benefit of Fazeli, including millions spent at Las Vegas casinos,” FBI Special Agent B.C. Mason wrote in an affidavit filed with the court.
Fazeli was arrested on Feb. 14 following an FBI investigation. During a court hearing the next day, he was released on a $120,000 bond. He is scheduled to return to court for an arraignment on March 26.
If convicted, Fazeli faces up to 40 years in federal prison.
Fazeli is already facing several civil lawsuits related to the ticket venture, court records show.
A trust belonging to the Semper family in St. Petersburg, Florida has filed a lawsuit against Fazeli and Summit Entertainment, claiming the trust invested $5 million for tickets at various events – including the NCAA Final Four and the same Super Bowl and World Cup cited in the federal criminal case – but received nothing back. That lawsuit alleges that representatives for the trust had attempted to contact Fazeli and Summit, but had not received “any substantive response.”
Another lawsuit filed in Nevada by the Ticket Man alleges that that the business paid more than $2.5 million for Super Bowl tickets in 2016 after being promised approximately $3 million in profits. That lawsuit also alleges that Ticket Man received no money back from the deal, and that “repeated phone calls and emails to Fazeli and Summit were not returned.’
