The concert, organized by a local arts and humanities organization and booked through a Mexican promoter, was scheduled to take place during the Barrier 2 Bridge festival earlier this year.

But after the organization forwarded an advance payment for the show and attempted to finalize details for the performance with the promoter, officials began to realize the unfortunate truth -– San Luis had been scammed.

The San Luis Corporation for the Arts and Humanities began exploring its options for booking the band early last summer, according to the local Bajo El Sol newspaper, and initially sought help from local booking agency Premier Entertainment.

The agency pointed the organization in the direction of Mexican promoter Gente PV, which Premier said it could work with to secure the band for the festival, City Attorney Glenn Gimbut told the paper.

“They lied,” he said. “They said they had worked with them before. Later they admitted that they hadn’t, that they had found Gente PV’s name on the Internet.”

The organization, with permission from city councilors, wired the deposit to Gente PV last August but realized soon after that there was no deal in place, Gimbut added.

Organization VP Michael Trend “asked on several occasions for them to return the money, but it became clear that we were scammed, and an investigation was opened in January by the police department,” he said.

In its defense, Premier representatives told the paper that Gente PV did claim it was the exclusive representative of Maná, and that Premier did not receive any money, and merely connected the city with the promoter.

“All we did was make contact with Gente PV – which is what the city asked for, to put them in touch with Gente PV, and vice versa,” Premier’s Emmanuel Guzman said. “And at the time of payment, the city did that on its own. The way it was done and the precautions that were taken were completely at the discretion of the city.”

A representative for Gente PV, which is based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, said the promoter was unaware of any negotiations taking place and questioned whether someone had improperly used the firm’s name, according to Bajo El Sol.

The city is reportedly examining whether to sue Premier for the money or work with attorneys in Mexico to try to recover the funds.