NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — A former math teacher charged with defrauding investors out of more than $70 million as part of a ticket resale Ponzi scheme, pleaded guilty in Federal Court in Manhattan on Wednesday to one count of wire fraud.
National Event Co. Chief Executive Officer Jason Nissen was accused of borrowing money, often at high rates of interest, from investors to finance large quantities of ticket purchases to concerts, musicals and sporting events which he would resell at a profit. However, Nissen began using funds borrowed from other investors to repay earlier investors.
As part of the scheme, prosecutors alleged that Nissen falsified financial documents and inflated his financial position to disguise the Ponzi scheme.
According to the complaint, the whole scheme came crashing down in May 2017 when Nissen found himself unable to locate additional finding and admitted to one of his victims that he’d been running a Ponzi scehme.
“I know that my conduct was wrong and I wish to apologize to those who trusted me with their investments and loans and for any harm I have caused,” Nissen told the court, according to Bloomberg.
Nissen faced up to 20 years in jail if convicted, but his plea calls for him to serve just five to ten years. He’s also on the hook for a fine of as much as $250,000, or twice the gain to him or the loss to others, and will have to repay his victims $65 million to $72 million in restitution, Bloomberg reported.
Nissen is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21st.
