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Infamous Fyre Festival Under FBI Investigation For Fraud

K

KSweeley

Member
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...975e4b03b485cb3d517?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

05/22/2017

The disaster known as Fyre Festival has been surrounded by controversy for basically the entirety of its short existence. Now, the music festival intended to take place over two weekends in the Bahamas this spring is reportedly the subject of an FBI investigation.

The FBI has launched a criminal investigation into the infamous festival, looking at “possible mail, wire and securities fraud” committed by parent company Fyre Media in relation to the festival, The New York Times reports.

According to the outlet, “The investigation is being conducted by the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York and the F.B.I.; it is being overseen by a prosecutor assigned to the complex frauds and cybercrime unit.”

Billy McFarland, one of the festival co-founders, did not comment on specific allegations to The Times, but did apologize for the failed event.

“I’m committed to, and working actively to, find a way to make this right, not just for investors but for those who planned to attend,” he told the outlet.

A lawyer for McFarland’s co-founder, rapper Ja Rule, told the paper he “would never participate in anything fraudulent; it’s simply not in his DNA.”

The investigation comes after numerous lawsuits have been filed against Fyre, McFarland and Ja Rule since the end of April.

Festivalgoers paid between $5,000 and $250,000 per ticket to attend the festival, which was advertised as a luxurious island getaway. Attendees were promised a glamorous event, complete with gourmet food and posh accommodations, but as photos and personal accounts on social media showed, the organizers did not deliver.

One concertgoer, named Daniel Jung, filed a $100 million proposed class-action lawsuit against festival organizers earlier this month, claiming a “lack of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical care created a dangerous and panicked situation among attendees — suddenly finding themselves stranded on a remote island without basic provisions ― that was closer to ‘The Hunger Games’ or ‘Lord of the Flies’ than Coachella.”

Another lawsuit, filed by National Event Services (which was hired to provide medical services during the festival), claimed the accommodations at the festival were “uninhabitable, including bug infestation, bloodstained mattresses, and no air conditioning.”

At this point, there have been at least seven lawsuits filed against Fyre and its organizers.
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K

KSweeley

Member
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/...mcfarland-ja-rule-criminal-investigation.html

Their company, Fyre Media, however, was already facing the first of more than a dozen lawsuits seeking millions and alleging fraud, breach of contract and more.

The endeavor has also become the focus of a criminal investigation, with federal authorities looking into possible mail, wire and securities fraud, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, who was not authorized to discuss it. The investigation is being conducted by the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York and the F.B.I.; it is being overseen by a prosecutor assigned to the complex frauds and cybercrime unit. (A spokesman for the United States attorney’s office and a spokeswoman for the F.B.I. declined to comment.)

There are many potential victims: ticket buyers, investors and businesses small and large, spread across the United States and the Bahamas. Blink-182, a planned headliner, can’t get its equipment out of customs limbo. Fyre’s employees have not been paid. MaryAnn Rolle, a restaurant owner in the Bahamas who catered daily meals and rented villas to the festival crew, says she is owed $134,000.

“I’m struggling” and feeling taken advantage of, Ms. Rolle said. “It’s embarrassing.”

Weeks before the festival, Fyre informed ticketholders that the event would be “cashless (and cardless),” and encouraged attendees to put up to $1,500 in advance on a digital Fyre Band to cover incidentals, according to one lawsuit.

Those wristbands were merely a stopgap solution to help the company’s cash flow, according to two employees with knowledge of the accounts. They said that the Fyre Bands took in nearly $2 million; some of that money, according to another lawsuit, went to pay back part of a recent $3 million loan.

Expenses were swelling: Bed frames and beach chairs were rush-ordered; beach umbrellas had to be flown in, rather than shipped, because of late payments, according to three production staff members. Essential production tools, like walkie-talkies, never even arrived.

Back at Fyre Media, the company credit cards were being declined for everyday office purchases.

Employees said they feared that their boss was using funds from their booking app to fund the festival. But Mr. McFarland reassured them in April when he said that Comcast Ventures, the investment arm of the cable and media giant, had agreed to invest up to $25 million in Fyre Media. In fact, Comcast had considered a deal, the company said, but passed “after conducting thorough due diligence.” Mr. McFarland did not tell his employees.

As the festival date neared, the production crew’s wages, paid by wire or cash, arrived late, or short, and then stopped altogether, five members of the crew said.
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shira

shira

Member
mtlITqJ.gif
 
B

BitStyle

Unconfirmed Member
The whole story behind this event still flabbergasts me. I'm less concerned about Ja Rule and moreso want McFarland taken down. Dude is a scam artist
 
K

Kaako

Felium Defensor
Hahaha this utter clusterfuck of a festival continues to create entertainment for its more fortunate non-attendees.
 
K

KSweeley

Member
Ja Rule stated "this will pass, guys", while McFarland still thinks Fyre Festival will survive and there will be one in 2018. From the NY Times article:

Yet, speaking on May 2 with unnerved employees at his TriBeCa office — with its $30,000 sound system and frequent fashion-model visitors — Mr. McFarland deflected blame and vowed that Fyre would survive to mount another festival next year. The coverage had been “sensationalized,” he insisted, according to a recording obtained by The New York Times. (Fyre has attributed its cancellation to a combination of factors, including the weather.)

Ja Rule, the rapper and Mr. McFarland’s celebrity business partner, looked on the bright side. “The whole world knows Fyre’s name now,” he said. “This will pass, guys.”
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H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
KSweeley said:
Ja Rule stated "this will pass, guys", while McFarland still thinks Fyre Festival will survive and there will be one in 2018. From the NY Times article:
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Ja Rule sounds like a supremely stupid and arrogant individual.
 
K

KSweeley

Member
DAMN!!!!!!!! Ja Rule actually admitted that what happened could be "false advertising"!!!!!!!!!!!! There's also unpaid bills in large dollar amounts. Also from the linked NY Times article:

Trash and Unpaid Bills

As late as that Thursday evening, Mr. McFarland and Ja Rule had continued to assure talent agents that all systems were go. But by Friday morning, both weekends of the festival had been canceled.

Within a few days, Mr. McFarland and the rest of his executive team had left the island, their site strewn with mattresses, empty Champagne bottles and other detritus.

Several businesses are still anxiously awaiting the fate of their gear, which the Bahamian government is holding because Fyre owes more than $330,000 in customs fees, according to a government document.

Mr. Sabatini said that his Miami-based company was out about $10 million worth of equipment. Without a speedy resolution his business “would start facing irreparable consequences,” he said.

Workers like Mr. Nicholson, the carpenter, were left unpaid. A father of three, he is owed nearly $5,000, and his lights and water have been turned off because he couldn’t pay the bills. “It’s killing me,” he said.

Back in New York, at the early May meeting, rattled employees pressed Mr. McFarland and Ja Rule on a troubling thought: They had committed fraud.

“That’s not fraud, that’s not fraud,” Ja Rule said, according to the recording. “False advertising, maybe — not fraud.”

Mr. McFarland stayed silent.
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A

Accoun

Member
There are many potential victims: ticket buyers, investors and businesses small and large, spread across the United States and the Bahamas. Blink-182, a planned headliner, can’t get its equipment out of customs limbo. Fyre’s employees have not been paid. MaryAnn Rolle, a restaurant owner in the Bahamas who catered daily meals and rented villas to the festival crew, says she is owed $134,000.

“I’m struggling” and feeling taken advantage of, Ms. Rolle said. “It’s embarrassing.”
Click to expand...

...


Even more:
Several businesses are still anxiously awaiting the fate of their gear, which the Bahamian government is holding because Fyre owes more than $330,000 in customs fees, according to a government document.

Mr. Sabatini said that his Miami-based company was out about $10 million worth of equipment. Without a speedy resolution his business “would start facing irreparable consequences,” he said.
Click to expand...
 
L

louiedog

Member
Yet, speaking on May 2 with unnerved employees at his TriBeCa office — with its $30,000 sound system
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Blink-182, a planned headliner, can’t get its equipment out of customs limbo.
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If Blink-182 sues and wins they might end up with that $30k sound system if Fyre doesn't pay.

Liens exist.
 
H

hey_monkey

Banned
God, the fallout on this will be massive. So many people just trying to get some work impacted and that's not a bit funny. Justice will be slow.
 
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