Notorious ticket tout Michael Rangos was this week officially named as the man behind four online ticket firms featured in Guardian Money last month, which have now been shut down by the government.

Rangos was the boss of another rip-off firm, Getmetickets, and has links to Ticket Tout, which collapsed spectacularly a year ago. Yet it appears he is still peddling his wares online and nobody seems able to stop him.

Last month we told how London Ticket Shop and three other companies had been put into provisional liquidation, amid claims that large numbers of music fans have been left out of pocket. The companies traded via the websites londonticketshop.co.uk and londonticketmarket.com.

This week it was announced by the Insolvency Service that the firms - London Ticket Shop Limited, based in south-west London; London Ticket Shop Szolgaltato Es Kereskedelmi KFT, based in Hungary; Cyprus-based MLT Services Limited; and Ticketout Limited, which operated in central London - have been wound up in the high court following an official probe.

"As a result of the companies' activities, there had been a considerable number of complaints from members of the public concerning the failure to receive tickets they had paid for in advance," says the Insolvency Service. "The court heard that Michael Rangos was behind the operation of the four companies wound up, although he attempted to conceal this involvement."

The investigation found tickets had been sold which the firms did not possess - and, in some cases, which did not even exist.

The judge, registrar John Simmonds, said he had read the evidence "and was very satisfied that there had been a conspiracy to defraud the public and benefit the particular 'gentleman' behind the companies".

Some Guardian Money readers will be aware that Rangos has a lot of form in this area. His online ticket company Getmetickets was shut down by the government two years ago after it was found to be charging way over the odds for concert and theatre tickets it did not have.

On BBC1's Watchdog programme in late 2005, Sir Cliff Richard memorably said of Rangos: "I think that he's being manipulative. I think he's extortionate and I think he's a very mean man doing this to people."

Then there was Ticket Tout, which collapsed a year ago. Well over 6,000 music fans lost out to the tune of £1.7m as a result of its demise. Many had forked out hundreds of pounds to see acts such as Muse and Arctic Monkeys. Both Ticket Tout and Rangos's Ticketout Limited shared the same central London address; the Insolvency Service says Ticketout Limited was set up to provide a bank account for Ticket Tout, "which had its bank facilities withdrawn".

It is still not clear how many people have lost money because of the activities of the four firms wound up last week. But, last month, officials were saying they had not been able to recover any tickets for events, so there were none that could be distributed to customers. Fans of Bruce Springsteen - who played a show at London's O2 Arena in December which sold out in minutes - were among those affected.

Money revealed last month a 'clone' of the London Ticket Shop website had been launched - presumably by Rangos - and it was still up and running this week, which makes you wonder why the powers-that-be have not managed to pull the plug on it.

This new site, London Tickets Express, claims to be "the web's premier ticket brokers," and is selling tickets for acts including Kylie at Manchester's MEN Arena (prices range from £49 to £245), Bon Jovi at Twickenham Stadium (with prices for standing tickets starting at £35, even though See Tickets and Ticketmaster quote a face value for these of £45-plus) ... and Rangos's old friend, Sir Cliff. It says it is a "Hungarian-based sole trader business". No address is given, and there does not appear to be a phone number for people to call, just an email address.

The new site even refers to the now-defunct London Ticket Shop - the "LondonTicketsExpress.com frequently asked questions" section includes the line "London Ticket Shop operates a very strict non-negotiable no cancellations policy..."

London Tickets Express's website address is londonticketsexpress.com. However, if you accidentally type in londonticketsexpress.co.uk, you will find some enterprising soul (not us) has pasted up the Guardian Money report from February 16, to act as a warning to music fans.

A spokeswoman for the Insolvency Service says that once a company goes into compulsory liquidation, the service will look at the conduct of the directors during the period leading up to the firm's insolvency.

If there has been misconduct, a director can be disqualified for up to 15 years, though it can take months for it to emerge whether or not action has been taken against any individuals.

If you bought tickets from one of the four companies and did not get any, send an email to piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk or write to The Insolvency Service, Public Interest Unit, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3SS.

Rangos sent us an email saying: "My legal team is currently in the process of reviewing what was actually said in court about me, as I was not involved and did not participate in any way in these proceedings, which were actually about the companies and not myself.

"I categorically deny being involved in any criminal activity, including 'conspiracy to defraud'. These are, therefore, highly defamatory allegations made against me."


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