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Alleged SB ticket scammer caught after being rude at California spa

MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images / Digital First Media / Getty

The Atlanta-area businessman who's accused of scamming nearly a dozen people - including his own mother - out of almost $1 million with fake Super Bowl tickets has been arrested in California.

Investigators tracked Ketan Shah, who'd been reported missing by his wife, to Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Las Vegas, but couldn't catch up to him, according to Jeff Lasky of ABC10 News in San Diego. Shah was eventually apprehended after being recognized by a teenage employee at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif.

David Halliday, who works at a spa concierge at the resort, said Shah was being difficult and demanding service ahead of other customers.

"He came in with his girlfriend," Halliday, 19, said. "Just from the offset, he seemed a bit different from the usual guests we have in the spa."

Halliday also found it strange that Shah paid with cash, and decided to search his name online. After seeing stories about the ticket scam, Halliday called security, who then alerted the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Shah was arrested without incident and is expected to be extradited to Georgia to face theft charges.

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