3 Charged in Stolen Ticket Scheme

State agents have charged 3 Pittsburgh area residents with stealing tickets for popular shows at the Benedum Center and then reselling them via the internet. Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett says that 50 year old Vaughn Davis of the New Homestead section of Pittsburgh worked at the theater taking credit card orders over the telephone. Corbett says Davis would intercept the tickets to popular shows like "The Lion King" and his fiancee 47 year old Madge Hayes, also of New Homestead, would resell them through Craigslist and other online sites. 38 year old Patrick Conderato of Munhall then allegedly delivered the tickets and would split the money with Davis and Hayes. The investigation began last February when someone who bought tickets from Davis was refused entry to a show because the tickets had been reported missing by the original buyer.
Corbett says a raid of Hayes' and Davis' home turned up 25 unused tickets worth more than $1,700 plus handwritten notes with names, addresses and credit card numbers.
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust spokeswoman Veronica Corpuz says the Trust has reviewed its policies and practices to make sure this does not happen again. She says they feel this was a very rare incident impacting just a few of the more than 1 million tickets sold each year. Corpuz urged patrons to purchase tickets through the Trust at their website, hotline or box office rather than using a third party seller.