The complete and utter dumpster fire that was the Fyre Festival has caught the watchful eyes of U.S. government. The chickens may have come home to roost because one of the co-founders has been charged with wire fraud for his role in possibly defrauding investors in the historic shitfest. Fyre Media co-founder Billy McFarland was arrested on Friday and charged with one count of wire fraud, which potentially carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York released a statement on the arrest of the Fyre Festival co-founder, “McFarland allegedly presented fake documents to induce investors to put over a million dollars into his company and the fiasco called the Fyre Festival. Thanks to the investigative efforts of the FBI, McFarland will now have to answer for his crimes.”
In May, it was revealed that they FBI had begun an investigation into Fyre Media for their role in the failed festival which has at least seven different lawsuits against the company that organized it. The 25-year-old McFarland, who was a co-founder of the festival along with rapper Ja Rule, allegedly convinced at least two people to invest $1.2 million by promising investors a “life-changing music festival” (Technically, McFarland did not lie in this statement). He also told investors that his Fyre Media company had earned millions of dollars in revenue from thousands of artist bookings, even presenting fake documents. In reality, Fyre Media earned less than $60,000 from about 60 bookings. McFarland allegedly provided at least one investor with an “altered” stock ownership statement, “to make it appear that MacFarland could personally guarantee the investment.” The altered statement said that he owned shares worth more than $2.5 million, but it turned out that he owned less than $1,500 of the stock.
Leaked Emails Show Fyre Festival Organizers Knew How Much Of A Shitshow The Event Was
https://twitter.com/_maleficentt/status/857861407844573184
[CBSNews]