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Xclusive Tickets Director sentenced to additional six years’ imprisonment

24 Mehefin, 2014 | Eitemau newyddion

Terence Shepherd, the director behind the fraudulent online tickets operation ‘Xclusive’, has been sentenced today at Westminster Magistrates’ court to six years’ imprisonment for failure to pay a million pound confiscation order.

Shepherd, aged 55 years, of Blackheath, London was originally convicted and sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment in July 2011 for fraudulent trading, money laundering and acting as a company director whilst disqualified.

Xclusive ‘sold’ but failed to supply thousands of tickets to the value of at least £3.7 million for various ‘big ticket’ events including the Beijing Olympics and various music festivals that took place during the summer of 2008. Xclusive companies collapsed in August 2008 leaving more than 10,000 people without tickets and causing substantial losses.

In October 2012 Shepherd was ordered to pay a confiscation order of £1,250,000 of which £1,036,872.13 was to be paid in compensation to victims. He was ordered to pay the sum within 6 months or face six years’ imprisonment in default of payment. To date he has paid £103,344.00 towards his confiscation order; this has been paid to victims in compensation.

In activating Shepherd’s default sentence District Judge Ikram said:

“You have culpably neglected or willfully refused to pay this sum and I am not in a position to grant a further adjournment.”

The default sentence imposed today will be served after the original sentence unless the confiscation order plus accrued interest is paid in full.

Notes to editors:

1. For further information on the SFO’s case please see the conviction press release from 6 July 2011, the sentencing release from 11 July 2011 .

2. Around 2,500 people, from various countries including the UK; Australia; Canada; China; Hong Kong and the USA, are believed not have received over 5,000 tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Similarly during that year approximately 2,600 people in the UK did not get their tickets for summer music events (including V, Leeds and Reading Festivals) paying approximately £1m for over 5,000 tickets.

3. Terence Shepherd’s confiscation order includes a finding of £666,939.75 of tainted gifts and £583,060.25 of hidden assets. His time to pay expired in April 2013. The total amount outstanding is now in excess of £1,267,033.56 which includes over £120,000 of interest which accrues at a daily rate of £251.32.

4. Terence Shepherd made an application for leave to appeal against his confiscation order in October 2012. His application was refused by the full court on in January 2014 following earlier refusal by the single judge.

5. The original SFO investigation was conducted with the assistance of the Metropolitan police.

6. Other SFO cases which include lengthy sentences include Saghir Afzal, Asil Nadir, Nicholas David Andrew Levene, Kevin Foster, Achilleas Kallakis, Virendra Rastogi and Abbas Gokal.