Broker Settles Scalping Suit

A Pennsylvania ticket broker has agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a lawsuit filed in May 2004 charging he illegally scalped tickets to a benefit concert featuring Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovii in Red Bank, N.J.

Under the deal announced March 14th by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, $7,500 will go to the Rock and Roll Music Fund, the concert’s beneficiary.

Undercover agents alleged they purchased tickets for $1,850 each from Chris Lipton, who operates A Good Time Tickets in Palmyra, Pa. The face value of a single Hope Concert ticket was $300.

On another occasion, Lipton allegedly sold two tickets for $1,500 each. New Jersey law prohibits ticket brokers from reselling entertainment ducats for a premium of more than 50 percent of the price paid, plus taxes.

The concert was held to raise funds for Robert Bandiera Jr., the son of guitarist Bobby Bandiera of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, who has a neurological disorder.

Lipton admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, according to his attorney, Charles Nugent Jr. The deal was approved February 24th by a state judge, the Division of Consumer Affairs said.

“The public should not be extorted simply because it wants to attend an event showcasing extraordinary artists,” New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey said. “People who buy tickets for resale can make a profit, but they cannot gouge others.”