A Georgia businessman is accused of scamming football fans, his colleagues and even his own mother after running off with more than $750,000 in a Super Bowl ticket scam, police said.
Ketan Shah, a prominent businessman in the greater Atlanta area who sits on various community boards, is being accused by almost a dozen people of failing to deliver thousands of dollars worth of tickets to Sunday's game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, according to the Gwinnett County Police Department.
Shah hasn't been seen since Jan. 3, his wife told Alan Tartt, who is accusing the businessman of swindling him and two friends out $20,000 in tickets to the NFL title game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots.
“I reached out to his family, friends — no one knew where he was,” Tartt said, adding the conversation with Shah's wife is what prompted him to contact the police.
Tartt told NBC News he first reached out to Shah in November and was promised on-field access, as well as entry to pre-game parties.
“Initially we were going to use PayPal but he ended up talking us into depositing into his account,” Tartt said. “Ketan was an active member in the community and on the board of directors at the YMCA, and I assumed he was trustworthy.”
But when it came to delivering the tickets in early January, Shah was nowhere to be found.
Shah’s mother, Jayaben, said her son made off with $36,000 of her money but declined to press charges, according to a police report.
Shah had initially offered his mother a deal in which she would give him the money to purchase the tickets, and he would then sell them for $5,000 each and return the profits to her.
The Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce suspended him from the board Jan. 31, citing "the recent criminal allegations made against him."
"I mean he scammed his friends, his mom and his own company, so it’s just crazy,” Tartt said.