Nissen, who faces wire fraud charges related to his alleged operation of a $70 million Ponzi scheme while CEO of National Event Ticket Company, is restricted to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania while awaiting trial in October.
He requested to travel to Las Vegas to ply his trade before the upcoming fight, which has sold at a tremendous volume, though piles of tickets remain on the secondary market with two weeks left to go. He stipulated that he would not deal with money directly and that the trip was needed to support his family.
Nissen is facing charges related to an alleged Ponzi scheme where he enlisted investors to buy into a scheme to buy tickets to hot events like “Hamilton” and the Super Bowl. After reeling them in, he used new money to pay off old investors and enrich himself.
“They’re inflated numbers. We really had those events and really sold the tickets and they’re inflated, you know, two or threefold depending on how it was,” Nissen said in a taped conversation, according to the complaint.
NECO filed for bankruptcy protection in New York soon after Nissen was arrested, with Nissen waiving a formal indictment and entering a not guilty plea last week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein in Manhattan. Nissen’s defense lawyer, Michael Bachner, says he is working toward a plea deal.
For now, he remains stuck in the northeast, with a trial start date of October 26.
