Diljit Dosanjh’s Black Marketing, Coldplay Tickets; ED files a money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has discovered alleged irregularities after conducting raids in a money laundering case to investigate the ‘black marketing’ of tickets for two ‘highly anticipated’ music concerts by British rock band Coldplay and actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh. .

The searches were conducted on Friday at 13 locations in five states – Delhi, Maharashtra (Mumbai), Rajasthan (Jaipur), Karnataka (Bengaluru) and Punjab (Chandigarh) – after the federal probe agency filed a criminal case under various branches of police. Money Laundering Prevention Act.

While Dosanjh’s ‘Dil-Luminati’ concert is scheduled for the weekend of October 26-27 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital, Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres World Tour’ event is scheduled for January 2025 in Navigate Mumbai.

The ED said in a statement that it initiated an investigation after numerous reports emerged that individuals and fans were “cheated/cheated” by “fraudulent” ticket sales following the rapid sell-out of tickets.

The agency has taken note of multiple police FIRs filed across the country in the case, including one filed by online ticket booking portal BookMyShow, against several suspects for “suspectedly exploiting concertgoers”.

The FIR alleges that these persons were engaged in selling fake tickets and drastically inflating the prices, taking advantage of the high demand for these coveted concerts, the ED said.

These concerts were said to be an “exciting” and “long-awaited” announcement for music lovers across India.

Both events generated huge excitement and official ticketing partners such as BookMyShow and Zomato Live reported that the tickets sold out within minutes on their platforms, which “ultimately led to black marketing of tickets at exorbitant prices”.

Many fans have discovered that counterfeit tickets have been sold or charged exorbitant prices for legitimate tickets, the agency said.

“Searches and investigations conducted by ED have revealed information about several persons known for issuing such tickets, including fake tickets through social media using Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram,” the agency said.

The ED said several “incriminating” materials in the form of mobile phones, laptops and SIM cards used in ticketing were seized during the raids.

The searches were aimed at investigating the illegal sale of tickets, financial networks that support these scams, and detecting the proceeds of crime arising from such illegal activities, the report said.

In a related development, the Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Centre’s response on a plea seeking a regulatory framework to regulate the resale of these concert tickets through authorized platforms.

A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued a notice to the Ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Electronics, and Information Technology, private entities Stubhub Inc, Viagogo Entertainment Inc and Bigtree Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

The court said the replies should be filed within four weeks and posted the hearing for February 18, 2025. The HC is hearing pleas on alleged irregularities in ticket sales for both concerts.