The two sides in the Action Seating Winter Olympics ticket case are scheduled to meet with a Los Angeles judge tomorrow, June 25, to begin arguments over the alleged $3 million fraud.
Representatives of Gene Hammett, owner of the Atlanta-based secondary ticket company Action Seating, are allegedly trying to persuade David Bunevacz to release proof of what happened to the $3 million Hammett claims he paid the Los Angeles resident. The two allegedly agreed for Bunevacz to provide more than 17,000 tickets to various events at the Vancouver Games this past February.
Bunevacz, a friend of Hammett’s who had done business with the broker in the past, reportedly claimed to have had connections for Olympics tickets through several national Olympics committees. But, he allegedly never furnished the tickets, and he has yet to pay back what Hammett claims Bunevacz owes.
“Bunevacz has failed to provide a single responsive document. Instead, Bunevacz makes the astounding claim that every responsive document is confidential and refuses to turn over any responsive documents without a protective order,” Hammett’s motion states. “Accordingly, both parties participated in a meet-and-confer and have submitted respective drafts of a proposed protective order. In a good faith effort to resolve this dispute, Hammett incorporated many key components that Bunevacz deemed essential. The parties have gone back and forth for many weeks and reasonable efforts to meet and confer have been exhausted.”
The motion, along with one by Bunevacz’ side, was filed this week in Los Angeles Superior Court before Judge Daniel J. Buckley.
“The parties have reached an impasse that continues to impede Hammett’s ability to proceed with discovery, obtain an answer to what happened to the tickets and nearly $3 million that Hammett paid Bunevacz and ultimately, resolve this case,” the motion continued.
Allegedly one of the main issues for Bunevacz is whether he will be forced to publicly disclose any documents he may have that are material to the case, or if those documents will remain confidential and only be viewed by the courts and attorneys involved.
Bunevacz has denied any wrongdoing, but said the ticket “deal went sour.” He and his father, Joseph, allegedly claim to have contracted with another foreign party that then reportedly stiffed him out of the tickets.
Thousands of fans did not receive their tickets for the Olympics, tickets they bought from brokers who reportedly bought them from Hammett. Two secondary ticket companies, eSeats and RazorGator, have sued Hammett, but he reached out to other creditors to stop them from suing him until he can try to get the situation resolved with Bunevacz.
