New York authorities arrested for fraud Billy McFarland, the promoter of the failed Fyre Festival, a luxury music event in the Bahamas that was suspended for poor organization at the beginning of April, local media reported.
The US interim prosecutor In Manhattan, Joon Kim, alleged that McFarland, arrested on Friday, used fake documents to motivate his partners to invest more than $ 1 million in his company, Fyre Media, and at the festival, according to Fox News.
McFarland faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted and has more than a dozen lawsuits pending along with his partner, rapper Ja Rule, brought by some festival attendees and investors.
The suspension of the Fyre Festival, whose tickets were worth between $ 4,000 and $ 12,000, prevented many attendees from leaving the Bahamas, who showed on social media tents half-erect, poor food services, lack of mobile latrines and chaos in the airport.
The two-week event had been touted by celebrities and promised performances by popular groups and singers such as Tyga, Pusha T, Desiigner, Blink 182 and Rae Sremmurd.
“As it is alleged, William McFarland promised a ‘transforming experience’ music festival but it really did produce a disaster,” said the prosecutor, who thanked the FBI for the investigation “to respond for their crimes.”
McFarland, 25, has scheduled a hearing before a federal judge on Saturday, while his partner Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, has not been arrested.
