Amazon Executive Pays $165,000 For Fake Tom Petty To Play His Wedding
Posted by Joseph Lee on 08.06.2012
He was conned...
NME reports that an executive from Amazon, Brian Valentine, was conned for $165,000 after booking a "fake" Tom Petty to perform at his wedding. He wanted Tom Perry and the Heartbreakers at his wedding in July (to Amazon vice president Gianna Puerini), since the two got engaged at a Heartbreakers concert in Seattle in June 2010.
He paid the deposit to the now-defunct group Lund Live, who claimed to book acts like Petty, Run DMC and Ludacris. Valentine got in touch with Petty's management company, who had no knowledge of the payment. He then contacted the FBI, who arrested the site's owner Chad "Chris" Lund for fraud. He will appear in court today.
Even with the problems, Valentine was still able to book the band to play a full set at his wedding.
Petty previously headlined the Isle of Wight festival earlier this summer as part of their first live UK dates in twenty years. Shortly before their world tour, they offered a reward for $74,998 for the safe return of five guitars which were stolen from their Los Angeles rehearsal area. A security guard at Culver Studios (where the band was practicing) was arrested for the crime.
