Two fraudsters who masterminded a £100,000 Liverpool FC forged ticket scam which hoodwinked fans across the world were jailed today for a total of seven-and-a-half years.
Craig O’Donohue, 29, and Paul Murgatroyd, 28, conned hundreds of victims who paid hugely-inflated prices to watch the Reds play at Anfield .
But when supporters tried to gain entry to the stadium, their tickets were revealed to be fake, leaving them thousands of pounds out of pocket.
Many of those tricked were Liverpool fans from abroad who’d also spent large sums of money on flights to Merseyside and booked hotel stays.
Ringleaders O’Donohue and Murgatroyd advertised tickets for high-profile games including fixtures against Real Madrid and Tottenham on the website Craiglist.
The pair would meet their victims in the city centre , sometimes on the steps of Lime Street Station or outside Schhu store on Church Street, and carry out the bogus transactions.
Fans desperate to get inside Anfield paid as much as £260 for tickets as the gang placed 1,315 website adverts during their spree between September, last year, and April, this year.
Victims who flew to Liverpool from countries including Italy and Iceland were caught up in the fraud, but Merseyside Police only got involved when a lawyer from Florida complained he’d been duped when buying a game for a Reds’ match against West Brom.
Detectives launched an undercover operation to catch O’Donohue and Murgatroyd, putting them under surveillance, and sending disguised detectives to buy fake tickets.
The ringleaders used nine other accomplices to complete their scam, whose bank accounts were used to initially obtain the cash, before the sums were almost immediately withdrawn from ATM machines by the two men in charge.
This was the money-laundering phase of the scam, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
After getting Liverpool fans’ money, O’Donohue, of Harrow Road, Anfield, and Murgatroyd, of Richmond Park, Anfield, were watched by police going into a series of bookies, playing on the casino machines to ‘put in cash and launder it through,’ prosecutors said.
When officers searched Murgatroyd’s house they seized forged tickets, including ones for Everton matches, and Hewlett Packard printers.
The fraudsters used blank ticket books which they’d intercepted and stolen from Liverpool FC as they were being transported to the shredder.
The crime was ‘sophisticated’, the court was told, with unregistered pay-as-you-go mobile phones and computers in internet cafes used to avoid detection.
Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, said: “The defendants are to be sentenced for their part in a fraud concerning football tickets in relation to Liverpool Football Club. One victim travelled from Italy with friends, at a cost of £90 a ticket, each paying £500 for flights and accommodation.
“This was typical of a number of the victims who’d come to Liverpool to watch a game. The offences were sophisticated and required serious planning and there a large number of victims.
“The loss to them was significant.”
Referring to the nine accomplices, who allowed their bank accounts to be used in the scam, Mr Gibson added: “Money laundering is an essential ingredient in fraud. The motive for allowing their accounts to be used was for financial gain.
The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, Liverpool Crown Court
“They must have had a limited understanding of the true extent of the fraud. Without their association, the fraud could not have taken place at all.”
Judge Denis Watson, QC, jailed Murgatroyd for three and a half years and O’Donohue for four years.
The judge added that Alexandra Kirby, of Richmond Park – Murgatroyd’s girlfriend – knew what was going on, but accepted she was used by her boyfriend.
He handed her a 14-weeks in jail, suspended for 18 months, plus 160 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Watson said the other defendants were unaware of the true extent of the fraud but took a decision to ‘make easy money’, before handing them all one-year community orders.
Kercher, 19, of Frampton Road, Walton ; Clarke, 18, of Afton, Widnes and Wright, 19, of Havergal Street, Runcorn , were found guilty at trial.
Kercher received a three-month home curfew and was told to pay £500 costs.
Clarke was given 160 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £250 costs.
Wright received 180 hours of unpaid work and was told to pay £500 costs.
O’Donohue’s girlfriend Frances Ellicott, 23, of Farrow Road, Walton, was told to complete 60 hours of unpaid work.
Laura Green, 22, of Batley Street, Old Swan, was given 60 hours of unpaid work.
Emily Bakewell, 20, of Fulbeck, Widnes, must carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.
Siobhan Gazeley, 25, of Frank Street, Widnes, was handed 60 hours of unpaid work.
Kieran King, 22, of Snowberry Road, West Derby , must complete 160 hours of unpaid work.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/