Vigilance can report that on Tuesday, a Norwegian ticketing criminal out to make quick buck selling UEFA Champions League tickets was fined £1,000 and had tickets seized after he had pleaded guilty to illegally arranging the sale of tickets for the UEFA Champions League Final.
A police source said Sanjas Malhortra, 44 (10.09.66), of Oslo, Norway, appeared in custody at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 24 May, where he pleaded guilty to selling tickets to a designated football match without authority (contrary to Sect 166 of CJPOA 1994). He received a fine of £1,000 and the tickets were seized.
He was said to have been arrested on Monday 23 May at Heathrow Airport by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Podium team and was found in possession of 60 tickets for the UEFA Champions League final, which is due to take place at Wembley on Saturday 28 May.
The investigation was carried out by the MPS's Operation Podium Team, set up to tackle serious and organised crime affecting the Olympic economy. The police said the investigation is part of activity to target and disrupt ticketing crime ahead of the Games.
Detective Chief Inspector Nick Downing, leading Operation Podium, says: "Malhortra has taken large sums of money for tickets that he was not entitled to sell, resulting in fans who will now be denied the opportunity to see the game on Saturday.”
DCI Downing warned: "Ticket touting is an illegal business run by people to gain financially through the exploitation of clubs and genuine fans. As soon as people buy from an unofficial source - whether a tout or an unofficial website, they run the risk of paying over the odds for a ticket that they may not receive, not get to see the event that they had paid for, or even risk having their personal details stolen for use in other crimes. Don't let this happen to you. Only visit official sites for a list of genuine sellers who are authorised to sell legitimate tickets."
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