Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Ja Rule
(AllHipHop News) The founder of the disastrous Fyre Festival has pleaded not guilty to defrauding investors out of millions of dollars.
Billy McFarland, 25, is accused of wire fraud and making false statements to banks, who loaned the promoter millions of dollars.
The charges stem from the Fyre Festival, which was supposed to be a luxurious event held in the Bahamas last April and May.
Tickets for the festival, which included headliners like Blink-182, Pusha-T and Lil Yachty were hawked for $1500-$250,000.
But instead of finding the luxury they anticipated, festival goers greeted with what some labeled “hellish” conditions.
Those who landed on the island were forced to stay in makeshift tents and were infamously served cheese sandwiches, to top it all off.
After several top of acts backed out of the Fyre Festival, McFarland and co-promoter Ja Rule decided to pull the plug.
The whole ordeal triggered scores of lawsuits, totaling into the hundreds of millions of dollars against both Billy McFarland, Ja Rule and The Fyre Festival.
However, the feds claim Billy McFarland doctored financial statements he presented to investors of the Fyre Festival who claim they were swindled out of $1.2 million in the scheme.
“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,” Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said in June.
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