Counterfeiters Nailed Passing Fake Super Bowl Tickets

The quality of counterfeit tickets may have been sufficient enough to fool the electronic scanning machines at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey—home of Sunday's Denver-Seattle Super Bowl—but they didn't slip past the New York Police Department.

Two men: Damon Daniels of the Bronx and Queens, along with Philadelphia resident Eugene Fladger, were arrested Monday on charges of forgery, trademark counterfeiting and related offenses, Newsday reported. The suspects were picked up following a monthlong undercover probe that was triggered by a tip from an NFL investigator. Undercover cops had purchased a number of fake tickets for football playoff games in the past few weeks.

Police seized 36 fake Super Bowl tickets and eight ersatz parking passes, along with 20 bogus tickets for private party events leading up to the big game, Newsday said.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the tickets were very convincing, but the printing—allegedly done at a Kinko's (FedEx) shop—was washed out and had misprints. Bail was set at $20,000 for Fladger and $10,000 for Daniels.