Three men arrested, charged with selling counterfeit Madonna tickets

Fans hoping to see Madonna perform in Atlantic City saw red instead when they were denied access to the Boardwalk Hall concert venue. Approximately one dozen counterfeit tickets were presented at the Queen of Pop’s November 22 show in New Jersey, according to a report by the Press of Atlantic City.

The tickets were marked with a face value of $350 each. However, when their barcodes were scanned by workers stationed at the venue door, the tickets were flagged as fakes.

While the holders of the fake tickets were out of luck, two undercover police officers were able to save other concert-goers from the same fate when they arrested three men for allegedly trying to sell more counterfeits. The officers seized 26 tickets with a total value of $9,100 during the pre-concert sting.

Three men identified in police reports as Richard Ferdinand, 26, of Bronx, NY; David L. Hammond, 23, of Alexandria, VA; and Kyle Tuttle, 25, of Bridgeport, CT, were charged with attempted theft by deception, uttering a forged instrument, reselling tickets without a license and reselling tickets adjacent to a venue.

The police are continuing to investigate the matter. The department requests that victims of similar scams at the November 22 event contact the Atlantic City Police Department’s Special Investigation unit at (609) 347-5858.

Requests for comment on the incident were not immediately returned by Boardwalk Hall.

Madonna kicked off her 2008 Sticky & Sweet Tour in August with a late summer European trek before hitting North America in October. Madge’s final U.S. date is scheduled for November 26 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Garden’s FL.