Originally appeared on E! Online
Authorities are filling a blank space in their investigation of a major ticketing scam.
Two people were arrested Feb. 27 for their alleged involvement in stealing and reselling over 900 concert tickets — largely for Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras Tour — resulting in a total profit of over $600,000, the Queens District Attorney’s Office shared in a press release March 3.
Tyrone Rose, 20, of Jamaica, and Shamara P. Simmons, 31, of Queens, N.Y., were arraigned on charges of grand larceny in the second degree, computer tampering in the first degree, conspiracy in the fourth degree and computer tampering in the fourth degree. They each face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, per the district attorney.
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“According to the charges,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement, “these defendants tried to use the popularity of Taylor Swift’s concert tour and other high-profile events to profit at the [expense] of others.”
Katz said that the two “allegedly exploited a loophole through an offshore ticket vendor,” intercepting and reselling the tickets to yield an “extraordinary profit.”
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“This takedown highlights the vigilance of my office’s Cybercrime and Cryptocurrency Unit,” she continued, “as well as the importance of working with our industry partners to combat fraudulent activities and ensure the protection of consumers.”
E! News has reached out to attorneys for Rose and Simmons for comment but has not heard back.
The Eras Tour, which consisted of 149 dates over nearly two years, earned over $2 billion in ticket sales alone, according to the New York Times. And while that figure easily made it the highest-grossing concert tour in history, Taylor told fans at her final show that it was no easy feat.
“We have toured the entire world with this tour, we have had so many adventures,” the singer told fans in Vancouver, Canada, in December. “It has been the most exciting, powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.”
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