Top adviser to Marty Walsh had Boston Grand Prix stake

Ticket sellers: We don’t have the money to refund to fans

A top campaign adviser for Mayor Martin J. Walsh — who lobbied him to support the Boston Grand Prix — confirmed to the Herald he was a part owner of the race, while new questions are emerging about what happened to the proceeds from ticket sales of the canceled event.

Chris Keohan, a key architect of Walsh’s 2013 election win, said he got stock in the Grand Prix of Boston, the local promotion group running the now-defunct street race that Walsh championed for more than a year.

Keohan’s company CK Strategies, which includes another former Walsh aide, Kathryn Norton, was paid a monthly fee by the promoters, but it was reduced in exchange for Keohan getting “sweat equity" — or ownership stock, an arrangement that could have paid off big if the race had been a success.

A Walsh spokeswoman said last night “he was not aware" of Keohan’s ownership interest.

But Keohan isn’t the only one who lost out when the race was canceled. Hundreds of angry ticket buyers are now demanding their money back, but the companies handling ticket sales say they don’t have it.

Grand Prix of Boston CEO John Casey had promised refunds would go out two weeks ago, but dozens of ticket buyers say they still haven’t gotten their money. Nate Drouin, CEO of fundraise.com, the Boston firm handling credit card sales for the race, told the Herald he hasn’t been able to give out most refunds because the money went to the promoters.

“Funds derived from the ticket sales were immediately tendered to John Casey of Boston Grand Prix," Drouin said. “As Mr. Casey informed fundraise.com, investors and others that the ticket proceeds would be retained until the event, we are optimistic that we will promptly receive the remainder of the ticket sale proceeds so we may assist in processing refunds to all consumers, as Mr. Casey has informed the public would quickly occur."

Another Boston firm that handled Grand Prix ticket sales, Vendini, also said they are not handling refunds. Paul Chalker, a spokesman for Vendini, said the promoters used the firm as a ticket-buying platform, and “all money from those sales went directly to Grand Prix of Boston."

Casey could not be reached, but he initially attributed the delay in refunds to a credit card processing issue.

The Grand Prix has folded its operation and this week closed down its Facebook site, where ticket buyers had been asking for information on refunds.

Casey told the Boston Globe yesterday it may be two months before refunds go out — but he did not explain why the money wasn’t available now.

The Globe was listed in an internal Grand Prix document as a sponsor of the race, committing $40,000 worth of “services" to the race, which a source said would have been advertising. A spokeswoman for the Globe has denied that the media company had a signed agreement with the Grand Prix

Ticket buyers, meanwhile, have grown increasingly frustrated by what they say are the Grand Prix’s failed promises to give the money back. Joe Battenfeld/Boston Herald