SEC, U.S. attorney bring charges against man for repeating ticket scam of his cousin

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York brought civil and criminal charges against James Siniscalchi, for allegedly fraudulently raising at least approximately $2.7 million from at least 12 investors after repeating a scam of his cousin, who is serving a federal prison sentence. The investors were allegedly promised their money would be used only to purchase tickets to events including the Broadway shows Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hello Dolly, and Bruce Springsteen on Broadway, and a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor, the SEC said. In actuality, Siniscalchi allegedly misused investor funds to benefit himself and Joseph Meli and his family, the SEC said. Siniscalchi allegedly instructed staff not to include Meli, his imprisoned cousin, on emails to investors, and referred to Meli as "Keyser Soze, the SEC said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.