Adam Blank, an investor in the alleged $81 million Ponzi scheme pertaining to the buying and selling of tickets to popular shows, including Adele concerts and Broadway’s Hamilton, sued his broker-dealer, alleging the firm made several false and misleading statements about its due diligence and investigation into the ticket operation.
The suit was filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Tripoint Global Equities, related companies and executives. Blank invested $1.5 million in the alleged scheme. The complaint states that Blank met Mark Elenowitz, Tripoint Global’s CEO, in January of last year at a restaurant in Long Island to alk about the possibility to build a professional relationship, which included Tripoint Global assisting Blank in finding investment opportunities and giving financial advice and other services.
After the first meeting and later phone discussions, in which Blank noted how important it was that investments be completely vetted, Elenowitz advised and suggested that “the safest and most conservative investment was the ticket resale business,” the complaint states. Elenowitz told Blank that the “investment was a no-brainer because the guys who run the ticket resale business had a deep understanding of the event business, were able to inquire inside and (had) pre-sale access to the most desirable events and that what [he] liked most was the fact that each investment was for stated events with each having an extremely short investment life,” according to the complaint.
Elenowitz additionally told Blank that he had performed due diligence on the ticket resale business and personally reviewed and analyzed the ticket resale companies’ financial statements and business records to ensure that all corporate governance was handled appropriately, according to the complaint. He also represented that two of his partners were personally invested in the ticket resale business along with many of Tripoint’s clients, the complaint alleges.
The Department of Justice and SEC also field simultaneous charges against three people involved in the scheme.
The Frankowski Firm has years of experience representing investors who have lost money as the result of Ponzi or other fraudulent schemes. If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of such a scheme, please contact Richard Frankowski at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies or complete the contact form.