Fake Tom Petty Swindles Engaged To Be Married Amazon Exec, Is Arrested
A fake Tom Petty scam threatened to interfere with the wedding reception of an Amazon executive until police managed to apprehend the impostor and a happy ending was had by all — except the fake Tom Petty.
The fake Tom Petty case came out of a soon-to-be-wed groom’s desire to plan a romantic gesture for his fiancee. Senior Amazon VP Brian Valentine wanted to show his bride-to-be how much he cared, and the wealthy executive felt that the most exciting thing they could have at their wedding would be a live performance by Tom Petty.
Valentine and his fiancee were engaged at a Tom Petty concert back in 2010 and to celebrate their nuptials he searched for and found a company for which he could contract a performance. Valentine eventually paid half of a down payment for what he believed was a $160,000 performance fee.
According to Yahoo, Valentine contracted with Chris Lund of booking firm Lund Live to provide the fake Tom Petty, but it soon became apparent there was no Tom Petty to be had:
“However, after repeatedly running into dead ends with the contacts provided by Lund, Valentine finally got in touch with Petty’s management company in April to discuss the upcoming booking. He was told they had never heard of Lund–or the proposed wedding date.”
The site continues:
“Valentine, who had received a contract purportedly inked by Petty’s manager prior to paying the deposit, went to the FBI to report he’d been fleeced. Chris Lund was arrested late last week on felony fraud charges, and will appear in court Monday.”
Lund appeared in court yesterday to answer the fake Tom Petty charges, and in the end Valentine was able to secure the real Tom Petty for his wedding day.
