Scam collects fees for reggae bookings

HARDEEVILLE, S.C., Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A scam artist pretending to manage band Daddy Yankee collected thousands in ticket sales in Hardeeville, S.C., before a club realized it had been duped.

When reggaeton fans found out, "They were about to burn the club down. They started throwing bricks, glass, everything at the club," said Richard Martinez, a local music fan, Billboard.com reported.

Reggaeton combines reggae with a Latin beat.

In a separate incident, a New Jersey concert venue wired $100,000 for a Daddy Yankee booking from an alleged scammer.

Bergen County, N.J., prosecutor John Molinelli issued a warrant for a suspect thought to be in the Dominican Republic.

"They're definitely allegations against the same person," Molinelli said regarding scams in New Jersey, South Carolina and three other places.

Investors in a New York Daddy Yankee appearance lost $75,000 last October, said Mayna Nevarez, the band's publicist.

Reggaeton is relatively new and relationships between managers and promoters are not well established, leaving the door open for deception, Billboard.com said.

There is no plan to make up for the canceled Daddy Yankee concert in South Carolina.