The Atlanta ticket broker at the center of the recent fiasco surrounding Vancouver Olympics tickets has reached out to the companies that were allegedly bilked in an effort to avoid more lawsuits.
In an email sent late last week – which TicketNews obtained from one of the creditors – Gene Hammett explained that he is continuing his efforts to retrieve the money he claims he paid to Joseph and David Bunevacz, the California father/son connection who were allegedly supposed to supply thousands of Olympics tickets.
Hammett claims he paid the men about $3 million for the tickets, money which Hammett received from orders from several brokers. He is reportedly in negotiations with the pair, but they have not settled on an amount or a payment arrangement, according to the email.
The blown deal virtually wiped out Hammett, so he asked the creditors hold off suing him so that he can continue to pursue the money. He has already been sued by eSeats and RazorGator, but more lawsuits would send him into bankruptcy, which would further delay, or possibly eliminate his chance to retrieve the money.
He has also been sued by David Bunevacz, however, and Hammett intends to countersue him, but he hopes to still reach an agreement. He is being represented by Houston attorney Jim Moriarty, who has become an expert on Olympics tickets fraud cases.
Reached today, Hammett said he was wrapped up in preparing the lawsuit, and though he declined to comment specifically on the email, he said he believes he has a strong case.
“They’ve taken the money and didn’t provide the tickets. It’s one or the other, you don’t get to do both,” he said.
The situation has been extremely difficult for him, but he hopes to make things right. “I’ve lost all ability to list tickets, to process credit cards, everything. I’m unable to work, and frankly I’ve lost interest in the business. The whole thing has been awful.”
Below is the text of the email Hammett sent to creditors:
To all Creditors of Action Seating, Inc:
I wanted to provide everyone with a status update on the Olympic ticket ordeal. But let me start with another apology for involving each of you in this issue. I want you to know that I am still working to get to the “bottom” of this money trail.
And I want to thank each of you that have not filed a law suit yet (only 2 suits filed so far). This allows me to continue with the plan to get to the bottom of this issue and collect money from Bunevacz. Each of you will be able to file suit against me at a later time, but for now it is in everyone’s best interest to give me a little time to reach a settlement with Bunevacz. Or you will each have a claim in bankruptcy, but I have very little in assets within the company or personally since all the money went to secure the Olympic tickets. If anyone needs a statement from my attorney on my insolvency, I can provide that at anytime. Should I be forced go into bankruptcy, we will have to give up the law suit against Bunevacz and at that time the Trustee of the Bankruptcy will have complete control over the settlement of all funds, law suits, etc. including if they will pursue Bunevacz.
Next Steps:
I am still working directly with Jim Moriarty to file a law suit against the Bunevaczs and Pegazus. For those who don’t know, Jim is the attorney that spearheaded the Beijing Ticket Scam with the UK brokers where eventually all parties involved were found guilty of FRAUD. They were ordered by the court to repay the monies. Read more at Jim’s website: http://www.moriarty.com/olympicticketscam/).
Also let me highlight that for the time being Jim Moriarty is working on OUR behalf “Pro Bono”. I am doing what I can to pay the direct expenses (including hiring council in California) of filing suit in California, but without Jim’s work I would not have enough money to continue forward without Bankruptcy. If your attorneys have any questions related to the case or would like to help in any way possible, you can contact Jim directly. Please be mindful that he may not have time to respond to each of you but I do intend to keep sending updates to each of you on a regular basis.
After the law suit is filed (I will send you a copy) we will move quickly to Discovery and Depositions. Their banking records should be a very telling story on where the money went to. Our hope is that we can reach a settlement offer with them during this process. As many of you know, Bunevacz has made offers to settle through his attorneys; however, no offer has been provided in writing, most offers have been for less than the amount paid and included a structured payment plan. Jim and I agree that any settlement they offer must be paid in a LUMP sum instead of through payment plans.
If there is something I am leaving out, let me know.
Gene Hammett
P.S. Please forward this statement to your attorneys so that they can be updated as well.
8 Comments
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With all due little respect I find it hard to believe that anyone including Gene Hammett is that stupid. The whole story is not being told. A simple Google of these Bunevac characters would have told you to stay far away from them. There are stories published on them from as far back as 1997 that show they are most likely con artists.
I think everyone involved that was ripped off should not only pursue civil suits but should also pursue criminal charges against Gene as I truly believe there is another layer of corruption going on and the chances of getting any money recovered is slim and none. Gene knew what was going on and at best got scammed by his cohorts. Jail time is the only fair justice.
I’m with H2B…one would not have needed to do much of a background check on this con artists to realize they’re probably not people you want to trust with $ 3 million. So either Gene is horribly incompetent, which I find hard to believe, or he was in on it. Either way, ignorance is not a justification for breaking the law.
H2B why would someone waste their time and money to pursue Gene civily when you yourself said the chances of getting any money back was slim to none?
You take a hard line on criminal charges against Gene but you do not state what the crime Gene comitted is. As far as I can see Gene has comitted no crime, however the Bunevacz may have.
I guess you have never been screwed in a business deal before, or perhaps you have never owned your own business or taken a risk in your life.
Wishing jail time on a family man who made a error in judgement is a bit harsh.
Sounds like a stalling tactic from Hammett. Why would the Bunevac’s pay any money back to him at this stage?
Hammett only has himself to blame, he was happily taking orders for tickets he didn’t have. Yet it never occurred to him this was risk? End of the day Hammett (and only Hammett) is responsible for the replacement cost to Razorgator and eseats. He should not have sold something which he did not have.
He was aware of the risks when he was happily confirming orders therefore he should pay the cost. The Bunevac’s may have caused Hammett’s problems, but that is irrelevant to Hammetts creditors. Why should they wait weeks for Hammett?
I’m still waiting to hear what law Gene broke. I think your ignorance theory would be a good one had the story not clearly stated that Gene did significant business with these guys at the beijing olympics.
They should wait because it’s their only chance to get some money back. If it goes to bankruptcy you can guarantee the corrupt bankruptcy trustees will bilk whatever amount they get from the hungarians until there is nothing left for the creditors. That is how the system works. What Gene did is not unethical or a bad business practice, unforunately he just got screwed. Give the dude a break.
He got screwed because he did not exercise due diligence and find out if the Bunevac’s were who they claimed they were ie. if they actually could get these tickets at the price and they weren’t out to defraud.
If you buy tickets from a third party-and $3m worth, then I am doing some serious checking in to the company and the people running the company. Did Hammett do this?
Besides that all Hammett’s buyers had contracts with Hammett, not the Bunevacs. It was a stupid risk for Hammett to take. He may have been blinded by the profits, but it is his fault for confirming orders he only thought he had.
Do any of you have a clue about any of this? I’ve done business with Gene for years and know him very personally along with Bob w/Eseats.com Gene has had solid connections for yeas when it has come to events outside the US. I’ve done numerous World Cup & Olympic events with him and the have been solid every year. His prices have been way below market value so I know his connection has been solid. He is a great guy and even Bob has admitted to me what a great guy he is and that its just a deal gone bad but he is still forced to take action which he doesn’t want to do but has an investment to protect. I truely believe all you smucks posting on here really have no clue about the industry to state such garbage. Gene would never steal from anybody and every broker in the industry for more than 5 years would admit that!