Man faces charge in charity-ticket scam

LOS ANGELES – A Wisconsin man has been charged with running a charity scam in which hundreds of people bought tickets from him to events such as “The Tonight Show” and Hollywood movie premieres only to find that he used tickets for himself.

Kristopher Schwoch was arrested last month in Burbank while waiting in line at the Warner Bros. lot to pick up tickets to the “Miss Congeniality 2” premiere, police Lt. David Gabriel said Thursday.

Schwoch, 23, allegedly solicited the tickets from ABC, NBC and Warner Bros. by saying he would raffle them off and use the proceeds for a charity that was actually a fake.

Schwoch would post ads for the tickets on legitimate entertainment Web sites, then take the money people wired to him – up to $5,000 per ticket, police said.

He then traveled around the country to attend the events himself – including an Amy Grant concert, the Academy Awards and the Hollywood premiere of “Ocean’s Twelve.” The victims were often turned away when arriving to pick up tickets or passes they had paid for, Gabriel said.

“He got to be hobnobbing with the stars, and he scammed a whole lot of money off a lot of people,” Gabriel said.

Schwoch is charged with five felony burglary counts.

Schwoch allegedly told victims he ran an entertainment company and referred them to online photo albums where he can be seen smiling in snapshots with the likes of Mike Myers, Alanis Morrisette and Jay Leno. The photos were taken when he was using the donated tickets, Gabriel said.

Gabriel said consumers with concerns about the sale may have been convinced by the photos.

“When you show these 400 pictures of yourself with celebrities,” he said, “it tends to support and validate your sale.”