JAKARTA - The perpetrator of the Taylor Swift concert ticket fraud in Singapore, Foo Mei Qi (30), was found guilty by the court on February 6, and sentenced to 36 months in prison.
According to a report by The Straits Times, Foo has deceived 76 people during the period June 2023 to February 2024, with a total of 110,700 Singapore dollars (Rp1.3 billion).
The victims were deceived by thinking the perpetrator was selling Swift's concert ticket at Carousell. However, it was not stated whether any of the victims came from outside Singapore.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng said Foo would ask the victim to transfer some money to him instead of a concert ticket. After they do, Foo will cut contact with them.
The victims paid a total of 7,780 dollars (Rp93.8 million), which was later discovered on the day they attended a concert that the tickets purchased were not genuine. They were also unable to enter the concert area.
Public Prosecutor Ng said Foo also pretended to sell tickets to the Bruno Mars concert in Singapore and deceived three other victims.
In his confession, Foo used the money to pay for his daily expenses, including meals for his family, medical bills, and wedding expenses.
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Meanwhile, prosecutors demand a prison sentence of 36 to 38 months, considering this is not the first time Foo has committed a similar scam. He had languished in prison before, after selling fake tickets to the Chou concert and Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi.
"Even that long enough prison term was not enough to prevent it from preying on desperate fans who could not get a concert ticket, to fund their own gold fever," said DPP Ng.
Foo is not the only perpetrator of concert ticket fraud in Singapore. Reported in March 2024, at least 960 victims lost more than USD 538,000 (IDR 6.5 billion) due to Taylor Swift's concert ticket fraud.
Two months later, a teenage boy confessed to defrauding three people, claiming that he had a Swift concert ticket for sale. In November 2024, a woman was also sentenced to seven months in prison for defrauding six people for Swift and Ed Sheeran's concerts.
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