A farewell with lots of dramatic flair.............4 Aaron Bushkowsky’s adaptation of Farewell, My Lovely features fantastic femme fatales
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PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS
APRIL 1, 2015 • VOL. 47 NO. 26 • VANCOUVER, B.C.
Fake tickets a real business
JOURNALISM
Recent concert ticket fraud brings attention to recurring scam, say police By ALEX HOEGLER
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FRAUD
KERA PIWOWARSKI-SKOCYLAS photo
Vision Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson and Geoff Meggs conflict-of-interest case was in court on Tuesday.
Secret tape mostly hearsay Evidence lacking for Vision conflict-of-interest court case By JOCELYN ASPA
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B.C. Supreme Court hearing to have Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Coun. Geoff Meggs removed from office over campaign donations began on shaky ground Tuesday morning, with a lack of evidence possibly endangering the case’ viability. The complaint, filed in December 2014 by David Wotherspoon on behalf of five petitioners, stated a secret tape recording of a CUPE 1004 meeting in October contains evidence of conflict of interest. Before discussions regarding the tape were heard, Justice Elliott Meyers struck out much of the evidence in the petitioners’ affidavits, citing them as “hearsay.” One of the affidavits that received a
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fter Sunday’s Maroon 5 concert ticket scandal, it’s a critical time for ticket buyers to know the risks and consequences of buying from second-hand sellers. Global TV reported that hundreds of fans were victims of fraud after trying to buy concert tickets that left them with questions instead of tickets. Const. Brian Montague of the Vancouver Police Department said that ticket fraud is common in Vancouver. “Every concert and every event in Vancouver, we see fraudulently attained tickets that are passed on to somebody,” he said. “It’s a huge problem, and we see it all the time.” Don’t just send Second-year Langara social sciencmoney es student, Stefanie-Anne Roy, was Ask the seller for duped by a seller for Maroon 5 tickets. identification “I found tickets on Craigslist. The lady told me to come out to Abbotsford. Ask the seller why We were communicating for four hours, they are selling everything seemed professional.” Unable to meet in person, Roy sent Meet the seller at money by Interac e-Transfer, but never the venue so you received any tickets. can scan the ticket Roy couldn’t get the money refunded from the bank because the seller had Buy from a accepted the transfer. She found anothreputable reseller like StubHub or er seller on Craigslist who felt bad TicketCity about her incident. She said he told her, “Take my tickets off me and have a good Source: The Voice staff evening.” The tickets Roy was given for free were in a VIP lounge and cost $400. “My misfortune turned into good luck,” Roy said. John Dumfries, a forensic consultant specializing in fraud in Vancouver, warns sellers to use reliable ticket outlets. “People should buy from reputable ticket sellers,” said Dumfries, referencing Ticketmaster as an example. Montague said there are two ways fraudulent tickets are produced: they’re manufactured and printed to appear real and sold through second-hand sellers like Craigslist, or tickets are purchased with stolen credit cards or data, which then get sold to a person or party not knowing they’re fakes. “Even if we catch the person [who sold fake tickets], chances of [the buyer] ever seeing their money again is almost zero,” he said. Montague said there is plenty of ways ticket buyers can ensure tickets are legitimate at all times. “If people have to go to a concert, they can buy off Craigslist, let [the seller] know you want identification.” He also suggested that a buyer makes sure the ticket seller has a good story. “When they bought the ticket, where, why they’re selling it. If they don’t, those flags should go up,” he said. “Trust your instincts, if it isn’t right, it probably isn’t.”
hit was former mayoral candidate and the man behind the petition, Randy Helten’s. Meyers told Wotherspoon that most of the evidence contained in all five affidavits was merely opinion and that the statements “don’t really add anything to your case. What they feel or not doesn’t matter.” Meyer’s statements reflected counsel for Robertson and Meggs, Bryan Baynham’s opening statement in which he said that almost everything in the affidavits filed on behalf of the petitioners is “inadmissible” and “quadruple hearsay.” “My clients shouldn’t be faced with this allegation,” Baynham said, adding many of the allegations contained in the affidavits were slanderous and damaging to his clients. Baynham advised the court the re-
cording is “incomplete or edited or both,” and the partial recording was then given to a reporter who wrote an article about it. The recording was then put up for download on a website. “They think that they can go to a website, download [the recording], put it in an affidavit and use it as evidence,” Baynham said. “Their only evidence is that it’s incomplete.” Baynham said Meggs’ evidence is that he was only at part of the meeting and didn’t know what happened before or after. Wotherspoon argued, “Without this secret tape, we would likely not have known what transpired at the meeting.” “This is an example of how it happens [with a recording],” Helten said “It would be refreshing to see someone get caught.”
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