SEC Settles Fraud Charges Against Fyre Festival Founder
Billy McFarland, his companies and two of his associates have admitted defrauding $27.4 million from more than 100 investors.
On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has settled its claims against the founder of the failed Fyre Festival, Billy McFarland. The commission accused McFarland of defrauding more than 100 investors out of $27.4 million. McFarland has admitted to the SEC's charges against him.
McFarland had hawked a "life-changing," paradisiacal music festival for well-heeled patrons intended to take place in the Bahamas in late April and early May 2017. Instead, the festival — which carried jokes and scads of schadenfreudic social media commentary, as hopeful festival-goers and vendors alike realized that they had been bilked.
