Man jailed for fraud over Leeds Festival tickets

Christopher Bundza, 45, was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court in March on 17 charges of ticket fraud and one of obtaining the proceeds of the fraud. Last month he also admitted two fraud charges involving obtaining a mortgage and a loan.

Andrew Haslam prosecuting told the court Bundza advertised on eBay and his own website tickets for the Leeds Festival and the 2008 V Festival in Chelmsford purporting he could supply them.

Police began investigations after complaints that tickets were not supplied, 17 customers having handed over a total of £6,990 for the festival packages he offered.

In 2006 Bundza and his then partner Kathryn White applied for a mortgage to buy and improve what became their home in Goosefield Rise, Garforth, Leeds declaring he had no previous convictions, when he was in court in 1999 for dishonesty offences and jailed for four years in 2003 for evading tobacco duty in another scam.

The couple also both inflated their incomes on the application and White also obtained a loan for a car and a personal loan in 2007 again inflating her earnings on the applications.

Jailing Bundza yesterday Judge Penelope Belcher said it was clear from the outset he had no tickets to supply to the festivals and had told “blatant lies” on the mortgage application.

White, 37, who admitted the mortgage and loan deceptions was given a 12 months community order. The court was told her relationship with Bundza has now ended.

Detective Constable Carly North from North East Leeds CID who led the investigation, said Bundza callously lied and deceived customers over the sale of tickets to Leeds Festival that he never had.

“I hope today’s sentence brings a sense of justice to the many people who paid him money for festival tickets and were given false promise after false promise and led on until the very last minute. This left many out of pocket and with no time to make alternative arrangements to see one of the big summer music festivals.”

“For anyone considering buying festival tickets online I would ask them to stick to the relevant festival’s authorised ticket agents, which you can see on the festival’s official website, and pay for them with a credit card. This gives you some protection and the possibility of your money back if things go wrong.”