Three people, including a teenager, have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud after allegedly selling tickets to the Kai Tak Sports Park opening ceremony at inflated prices.
The three suspects, aged 16 to 33, sold the tickets on online platforms for HK$100 to HK$2,000, much higher than the original HK$10 price, police said on Tuesday.
The opening ceremony for the HK$30 billion sports park – the largest sporting infrastructure ever built in Hong Kong – will be held this Saturday in the 50,000-seat main stadium.
A total of 8,500 general admission tickets, priced at HK$10 each, were snapped up within half an hour after sales opened last Friday, local media reported.
See also: Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park to showcase star-studded ‘grand’ opening ceremony on March 1
Superintendent Wong Yick-lung said that two of the three suspects did not have the valid digital vouchers required to claim the physical tickets.
The suspects were arrested following an investigation by the Kowloon East Technology and Financial Crime Unit, which began on February 24.
They have been granted bail and are due to report to the police in late March, Wong said, adding that the police would not rule out further arrests.
He also said that there was no evidence so far that the scalpers were part of an organised effort.
Real-name registration
In the same press conference, Commissioner for Sports George Choi said the tickets to the opening ceremony were purchased under a real-name registration system and a physical ticket would not be issued if there were inconsistencies between the registered name and the name of the person picking up the ticket.
Choi also reminded the public that identity checks would be required to redeem the physical tickets during the pick-up period starting Thursday.
