`Hamilton' Ticket Ponzi Scheme Leads to Second Guilty Plea
- Joseph Meli admits guilt to one count of securities fraud
- Investors were promised 10 percent returns on their money
Attendees take photographs outside of the 'Hamilton' musical in New York on May 22, 2016.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
A concert promoter admitted to his role in fleecing investors of more than $95 million in a Ponzi scheme where investors were told their funds were going to buy and resell blocks of tickets to popular concerts and musicals including the smash Broadway hit “Hamilton.”
Joseph Meli, 43, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of securities fraud in the ruse, which allegedly defrauded about 130 investors from 2015 to this year, prosecutors in New York said. Meli and another man, Steven Simmons, 48, of Wilton, Connecticut, were charged in January. Simmons pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy.