The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Joseph Meli and Matthew Harriton with defrauding investors by telling them their money would be pooled to buy large blocks of tickets that would be resold at a profit of at least 10%.
The scam went on for two years and raised more than $81m (£64.9m, €75.3m) from at least 125 investors across the US.
Victims
It has since come to light that several big names were among those who had invested in the scam, including some prominent names in the investment industry, reports Bloomberg.
American businessman Paul Tudor Jones, founder of private asset management company and hedge fund Tudor Investment Corporation, has been named as one of the victims.
He was ranked the 312th wealthiest person on the planet with $3.4bn according to the Forbes Magazine 2016 rich list.
Another investor has been named as Michael Dell, founder and chief executive of Dell Technologies. With a net worth of around $20bn, Dell was ranked 35th in Forbes’s 2016 rich list.
An unnamed executive of alternative asset management firm Och Ziff Capital Management Group is also understood to have invested in the scam.
It is not known how much each person invested in the scam.
Charges
Criminal charges have been brought against Meli and two others; Steven Simmons, who was allegedly the middleman tasked with raising money from investors for hedge funds; and Mark Varacchi, an investment fund manager.
Meli and Simmons both appeared in court on 27 January but have not yet entered pleas.
Varacchi pleaded guilty to fraud charges on Wednesday and was released on $250,000 bail. Sources close to events told Bloomberg that Varacchi contacted the FBI through his lawyer in 2016 to offer information and help with the investigation.
No criminal charges have been levied again Harriton.
