Photo Patrick McMullan (Getty)
He’s back… in jail.
Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland was arrested and charged yesterday with running a new fraudulent ticket-selling scam. The schemer reportedly sold bogus tickets to A-list events like the 2018 Met Gala, 2018 Grammy Awards, Super Bowl LII and even a private dinner with NBA superstar LeBron James.
You have to admire the balls on the baby-faced grifter. He had already plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud in March, while still facing over a $100 million in class action lawsuits from angry Fyre Festival ticket buyers who were promised a luxury music festival in the Bahamas. Of course, we all remember how that turned out when they found themselves in a literal shit show serving cheese sandwiches.
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For his latest scam, McFarland reportedly made $100,000 USD selling these new bogus tickets through NYC VIP Access, a company he controlled. He then attempted to hide his involvement by sending proceeds from all sales to other people’s bank accounts.
“William McFarland, already awaiting sentencing for a prior fraud scheme, allegedly continued to conduct criminal business as usual,” United States Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement.
A sentencing hearing has been set for next Thursday, June 21 for McFarland’s new counts of wire fraud and money laundering. He’s currently facing up to 40 years in prison. As his Fyre Festival co-hort Ja Rule would sing, McFarland best prepare for some good “Thug Lovin’.”
