An official at the Egyptian Embassy in Istanbul has notified police officials that she is not responsible for the illegal actions of a concert agent who swindled fans into purchasing tickets for an alleged concert by prominent Egyptian singer Amr Diab.

The official was shocked that tickets were being sold at 50 US dollars each and immediately made a call to the managing office of Amr in Egypt to see if the news was true.

Amr’s office denied any scheduled performance in Turkey, leading the embassy to contact local police, reported the Qatar based daily, Al Raya. The Arts and Concert Company, to which the agent belongs has been found guilty of fraud, scamming thousands of Turkish fans. The company had advertised for three concerts to be held by Diab in Turkey, scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Anatolia, and Ankara.

On a different note, recent circulating rumors claim that Amr may resign from the music industry. Amr cancelled his concert tour in Germany that was scheduled this spring after sudden death of his life long friend Ashraf Foad, his business manager and drummer in his band.

The singer apologized to his German fans, stating that he did not want to perform out of respect for his dear friend.

Ashraf was playing squash with Amr, when Foad suffered a heart attack.

Before the tragedy, Amr was preparing to film a new music video “Wihkaytak Aih” (What Is Your Story) under the direction of Sharif Sabri, business manager of controversial singer Ruby. Filming was scheduled to begin in May.
 

© 2006 Al Bawaba