BUSTED: Family That Scammed The Masters for $500,000 Pays Up

The Masters is certainly one of the most popular golf tournaments that take place every year and fans are dying to get their hands on tickets. One family, however, found a way to cheat the system and now they’re paying for it.

For those who have attempted to get tickets to the event before, you know that you have to partake in a lottery system that randomly selects people who will have an opportunity to purchase tickets. The system is supposed to be even by only allowing one lottery entrance per address. The Freeman family of Texas was able to beat this system and gain a mass quantity of tickets.

The scheme was rather complicated and well thought out. First, the Freemans bought a mailing list to gain addresses and names of people that they would use to enter the lottery. Since the lottery sends emails to those who can buy tickets, the Freemans set up a ton of email addresses so they could control the ticket applications. All in all, the family was able to obtain over 1,000 tickets and re-sell them for a profit of over half a million dollars.

Tiger Woods of the United States celebrates with the Masters Trophy…

Tiger Woods of the United States celebrates with the Masters Trophy during the Green Jacket Ceremony after winning the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 14, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

The scheme was even more complicated, including using fake bills and identification cards to have badges and tickets mailed to addresses the Freemans had access to. “This scheme was designed to profit from the resale of tickets, but in the process, it also would have denied legitimate citizens a fair chance to obtain tickets to a prestigious golf tournament,” Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, warned. “We hope that this case sends a message that the FBI will make it a priority to investigate these cases, and if you get caught, you will pay the price.”

As for reparations, the Freemans will be required to pay $275,000 in restoration fines after the scheme was busted. And that’s not the only justice that will be carried out. The ring leader of the family, Stephen Michael Freeman, will be required to pay even more in fines and spend three years in prison. That plea deal, however, is yet to be accepted by a judge.

This just goes to show that even the fairest and complicated systems of ticket delivery can be beaten. There’s no word whether the USGA or Augusta will change their system for next year but hopefully, more precaution will be taken when tickets go up for sale in 2020.

Cover Image Via Twitter