Fyre Media Inc CEO Billy MacFarland, now 27, ended up being sentenced to six years in prison, accused of scamming people and businesses out of $26million
Official merchandise from the disastrous Fyre Festival will be auctioned off to help pay back ticket buyers who lost money.
The event scheduled for April 28–30 and May 5–7, 2017 was billed as one of the most luxurious gatherings and supermodels such as Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber appeared in promotional images and video in the lead-up.
But Fyre Media Inc CEO Billy MacFarland, now 27, ended up being sentenced to six years in prison last October, accused of scamming people and businesses out of $26million for the festival on the Caribbean island that ended up failing.
While t-shirts and caps have been put up for sale since the iconic flop, it hasn't been easy for potential buyers to tell the difference between what was truly intended to be sold by MacFarland's company two years ago and what was created since catastrophe went viral.
However the government has resorted to selling off items seized from the company in an attempt to get some of the funds back to those who lost out.
'We have an assortment of the 'real thing' Fyre Festival-branded tee-shirts, sweatpants, sweatshirts, hats, wristbands and medallions,' a spokesman for the United States Marshals Service's Manhattan Office told Vulture.
Those who followed updates from festival attendees at the time and who have been locked into the Netflix and Hulu documentary coverage have shown interest in securing clothing and accessories connected to the fraudster's business.
The United States Marshals Service's Manhattan Office has an assortment of 'real thing' Fyre Festival-branded 'tee-shirts, sweatpants, sweatshirts, hats, wristbands and medallions'
In an ironic way, Fyre memorabilia has become a style statement.
Last May, people flocked to a New York City sale for items said to be connected to the event.
'We know that there is tremendous interest in these items in the NY metro area in particular,' the spokesperson continued.
It's not clear how much merchandise is available at this stage but a court filing against MacFarland said 'two large boxes containing Fyre-branded T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts and other clothing items that were intended for sale at the Fyre Festival' were seized.
MacFarland's legal representative turned over merchandise after he was sentenced and the items were inventoried 'to protect the government in case the items are fakes or counterfeit'.
'The USMS will dispose (or sell) the Fyre merchandise in the most efficient, cost-effective way in the best interests of the U.S. Government,' USMS said. 'We utilize our contracted partners to handle the marketing and sale and it will be an online auction.'
However the items alone won't be enough to repay Fyre victims. Those who have come forward will be given a percentage of the proceeds.
'Our objective always is to get the funds back to the victims as fast as we can in cases where there are victims,' the representative added to Vulture.
Burnin' up: Netflix (left) and Hulu (right) both released much-talked about documentaries centered around the disastrous Fyre Festival where customers and workers lost money
Feds found $240,000 connected to MacFarland in one bank account and an undisclosed amount in another.
Music fans spent thousands of dollars each on tickets to see popular acts, load up electronic wristbands in advance and pay for accommodation.
But when they arrived they found they'd be staying in large tents instead of villas and a photo of an unappetizing cheese sandwich went viral despite festival-goers being promised fine catering.
The Fyre Festival used celebrity influencers from around the world to push the luxury getaway in the Bahamas to wealthy millennials as a once in a lifetime experience.
In reality guests arrived on the island to find the site half-finished and their luggage missing.
The first tantalizing glimpse of 'the cultural event of the decade' came in December 2016 when 400 in-demand influencers paid by McFarland simultaneously posted orange squares on their Instagram accounts.
Big dreams: Famous models were infamously part of the promotion of the Bahamas festival which failed in April 2017 and now Fyre Festival has become an ironic style statement
In reality, McFarland had no experience of organizing such an event and vastly underestimated the cost and the logistics involved.
The first disaster was the location itself. The original site chosen for the event was Norman's Cay, a private island with historic connections to drug smuggling.
McFarland spent a cool $1 million on a lease from the current owners on the promise that he made no mention of its criminal past.
When he bragged on social media that the island once belonged to drug lord Pablo Escobar, the lease was cancelled — just 45 days before the event was due to take place in April 2017.
McFarland subsequently got a permit from the Bahamian government to use a site at Roker Point on Great Exuma, just above the Sandals holiday resort, but continued to peddle the 'private island' lie.
Maps of the site were altered before being posted online to make it appear as if Roker Point was a deserted island in itself.
On top of all that, the date of the festival clashed with a popular annual regatta weekend on Great Exuma, which meant that all the accommodation on the island was already booked out.
Two 2019 documentaries on the sham show how MacFarland expertly secured funding time and time again as the festival organization spiralled out of control instead of opting to cancel an event it was apparent he was struggling to set up in time.
By the time McFarland agreed to cancel the festival, thousands were stranded on the island and unable to get home.
Even after Fyre Festival nosedived, the serial scammer set up a separate operation, selling pricey difficult-to-obtain tickets to events despite not having them at the time.
The Manhattan US Attorney's Office estimated investors lost out on $24million and MacFarland got $2million from a ticket vendor.
Prosecutors said he made $150,000 while waiting to be sentenced for Fyre Festival.
Link hienalouca.comhttps://hienalouca.com/2019/03/19/fyre-festival-merchandise-will-be-auctioned-off-so-billy-mcfarland-can-pay-back-people-he-cheated/
Main photo article
Fyre Media Inc CEO Billy MacFarland, now 27, ended up being sentenced to six years in prison, accused of scamming people and businesses out of $26million
Official merchandise from the disastrous Fyre Festival will be auctioned off to help pay back ticket buyers who lost money.
The event...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/18/22/11157570-6823897-image-a-11_1552947372695.jpg
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