Houston attorney Jim Moriarty, himself an apparent victim of a ticket scam over the Bejing Olympics, has taken on the defence of  ticket broker Gene Hammett, who said he was scammed out of three million dollars over tickets for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

In turn, dozens of Hammett's clients, fans and brokers, did not receive tickets that they ordered for the recently concluded Winter Games. Moriarty said "Like his clients, Gene Hammett is a victim of a ticketing 'gray market' the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is unwilling to control,"

Moriarty said. "Mr. Hammett had enforceable contracts with high-level suppliers of tickets for the Vancouver Games. His records – from wire transfer records and contracts to e-mails to and from his well-connected suppliers – are consistent with his statements." In an interview with the Seattle Times Hammett's indentifies his alleged source of Olympic tickets as Joseph and David Bunevacz who allegedly told Hammett that they had contacts with representatives from a number of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) who could sell them tickets – something Moriarty says is a grey area where such deals are ‘frowned upon’ by the IOC but not adequately policed. David Bunevacz told the Seattle Times that he denied any wrongdoing and said the ‘deal went sour’ and he was trying to settle with Hammett.

05/03/10