Man stole nearly $150,000 from Pa. residents in sports and concert ticket scam: police

• By Jack Panyard / LNP | LancasterOnline

A Montgomery County man stole a total of nearly $14,000 from five people in Lancaster County, promising them tickets to Philadelphia Eagles football games, according to charging documents.

Charging documents from police departments in Bucks and Montgomery counties show similar claims with 11 people saying Paul Grant Murray bilked them for a combined total of more than $135,500.

Police in Bucks County said Murray, 27, used funds he is accused of stealing there on online sports betting.

Murray, of Conshohocken, is free on a combined $274,500 in unsecured bail in the cases where he was charged.

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Lancaster County

Northern Lancaster County Regional police charged Murray on Aug. 21 with one count each of theft by deception and bad checks after three people told them he stole $4,400 from them when he didn’t provide Philadelphia Eagles season tickets they said they paid him for, according to charging documents.

One of the people told police Murray was a former high school acquaintance who said he worked at online sportsbook ESPN Bet and was able to sell extra tickets at a discounted rate when they became available.

Murray mailed the three people fake receipts for the tickets on April 19 after he previously promised to deliver the tickets no later than May 15, according to the affidavit.

On June 1, Murray visited his high school acquaintance and left a $4,370 check that wasn’t able to be cashed because the bank account was closed. The former high school acquaintance then contacted ESPN and learned Murray was no longer affiliated with ESPN Bet.

Murray is free on $4,500 unsecured bail in this case and has a preliminary hearing scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 17.

Manheim Township police charged Murray on Aug. 7 with one count of theft by deception after a victim said they and another person gave Murray a check for $9,405 for five Philadelphia Eagles season tickets he never gave them, according to charging documents.

Murray told the two people he didn’t have the tickets and offered a refund, making excuses, according to the affidavit. He eventually disabled message notifications from the people and ignored them.

Murray is free on $15,000 unsecured bail in this case and has a preliminary hearing scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 17.

Bucks County

Hilltown Township police charged Murray with two counts of theft and one count each of receiving stolen property, deceptive business practices, criminal use of a communication facility, and bad checks on July 27 after they said he stole a combined $134,487 from 10 people, according to charging documents.

Police said he stole the money between January 2024 and January of this year by telling them he could buy cheap tickets for a Taylor Swift concert, and they could make a profit by buying and reselling tickets to Taylor Swift concerts and Philadelphia Phillies baseball games.

Murray appeared to use some of the stolen money on gambling, according to charging documents, where police said he spent more than $300,000 over seven months in 2024 on online sports betting alone.

Murray is free on $250,000 unsecured bail in this case and has a preliminary hearing scheduled at 1:15 p.m. Sept. 23.

Montgomery County

Conshohocken police charged Murray with one count each of theft by deception and bad checks on March 12 after he took $1,036 from a friend in 2024, promising tickets to a Philadelphia Eagles game, according to charging documents.

Murray never sent the tickets and a check he sent as reimbursement couldn’t be cashed because the account it was tied to was closed, according to the affidavit.

Murray is free on $5,000 unsecured bail in this case and has a pretrial conference scheduled at 9 a.m. Sept. 22 after he waived his preliminary hearing.