Tag: luxury ticket-flipping scheme

Former Des Moines sports talk host Marty Tirrell was arrested a week ago on federal wire fraud charges. This comes after Tirrell was sentenced to almost three-and-a-half years in prison on mail fraud charges in 2021. That sentence was in connection with a luxury ticket-flipping scheme in which Tirrell used the proceeds for personal expenses and gambling. Now, prosecutors say Tirrell has done pretty much the same thing again, getting investors to give him money to buy luxury tickets for events like the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Taylor Swift concerts, Indiana Fever games and football and baseball playoff games. Tirrell was to sell the tickets and pay investors their original investment plus a share of the profits. Prosecutors say Tirrell did pay some investors back but did so with money from new investors. In fact, they say Tirrell never made the ticket purchases and instead used the money for personal expenses and gambling. Tirrell worked as a sports talk host at KXLQ-AM, Des Moines and later at KXNO, Des Moines. See the Des Moines Register story here.