Federal agents on Friday arrested Billy McFarland, the businessman behind the botched Fyre Festival, on charges of wire fraud.
McFarland’s arrest comes four months after the event ― which was billed as an ultra-luxurious music festival on a private island in the Bahamas with gourmet catering, supermodels and tickets that cost up to $250,000 ― turned out to be a disorganized failure.
When ticket holders arrived on the secluded island in late April, they were shocked to find what appeared to be a construction site with half-built tents, feral dogs and inadequate food and water.
Joon Kim, the acting Manhattan U.S. attorney, said in a press release Friday that McFarland, 25, “promised a ‘life changing’ musical festival but in actuality delivered a disaster.”
Federal prosecutors believe that McFarland gave investors fake documents in a successful attempt to convince them to invest more than a million dollars in his company and the festival. Wire fraud charges can carry a sentence of up to 20 years, though The New York Times reported that McFarland would likely receive a lesser sentence.
McFarland and event co-founder Ja Rule went to impressive lengths to promote the Fyre Festival as a transformational music experience in paradise, recruiting models including Kendall…
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