DOJ accuses San Diego broker of $120m profit from 18.5 million resold tickets
A San Diego ticket broker made $120 million in profit by buying and reselling more than 18.5 million tickets since 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged in a lawsuit filed on Thursday, Oct. 15.
The Civil Division brought the case against REPS & Co. acting on a referral from the Federal Trade Commission, and the two agencies announced it jointly. The complaint names the company, a California corporation, and three executives — Ryan Pancheri, Brian Archibald and Nicholas Totagrande — as defendants, according to the Department of Justice U.S. Department of Justice.
The suit seeks unspecified financial penalties. It alleges violations of the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, the 2016 federal law that makes it illegal to get around the security measures used by a primary ticket seller, as well as violations of the FTC Act.
Prosecutors allege the scheme ran across 83,000 different events. That scale is central to the case. Investigators say the company targeted high-demand concerts to buy in bulk and resell at a margin.
The complaint describes an organised operation. REPS allegedly hired offshore workers in the Philippines to open thousands of Ticketmaster and AXS accounts in other people’s names. Those buyers allegedly used thousands of SIM cards, proxy IP addresses and virtual private networks, tools that hide a user’s location and identity, to keep the accounts active and mask the behaviour Billboard.
The company also allegedly kept an “Error Bible”. The document tracked Ticketmaster error codes and told staff how to bypass ticket limits, the caps that restrict how many tickets one buyer can purchase for a single event.
Named events include Beyoncé’s 2023 Renaissance world tour and shows by Luke Bryan and Post Malone. In one example, the Department alleges REPS bought 5,430 tickets for a single Pitbull show at the Empower FCU Amphitheater in 2024. That was nearly one-third of the venue’s capacity.
For fans, this means the case is about access. Limits are meant to stop one buyer from sweeping up large blocks before others can buy. The lawsuit, obtained and first reported by Billboard, is an allegation. No court has ruled on the claims.
