Post: #151

< Actually document fraud in order to secure investment was the dumbest thing he could have done.

He probably thought that he would somehow make it work with the festival and pay back the investors while having some to spare. In his coke-ridden brain he probably believed that despite all experts telling him that this would be impossible to put out such an event with that little money in such a short time - that he could somehow make it work, because he is Billy "Cokehead" Fucking McFarland. He is a legend.

And he is a legend.

So far he overstated facts, the PR and marketing was highly exaggerating facts, even endangering his clients would have gone alright, because no one got hurt. He could have even sold investors a pretty story - if they believed it, then it is their fault.

However as soon as he took millions while forging documents of collateral, then he entered outright fraud territory. One might say that most of his businesses were based on a thin line between a con, fraud and broken promises (or gross negligence).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...tival.html



The problem with McFarland is that he fucked with some very wealthy people as well. Some of them may be better connected than his family. Though his parents may be able to settle lawsuits from the fraud allegations, somehow I doubt that paying them back now would help things. Now the prosecutor took over the case and it is a full-on criminal investigation - he is not going to drop the fraud charges.


http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/327934/h...l-founder/

They interviewed a former classmate of his:

Quote:He always kind of toed that line of whether it was a scheme or legitimate. He was always trying [his hand at] enterprising, to say the least. When he came to Pingry, he was already running some overseas server operation, like, renting out server space to various websites. Most of which were porn sites.

So even his businesses before were hardly ever about creating value. He got 400.000$ for his Spling business, but likely burned through half of it for his lifestyle and "it did not work out".

Quote:AD: This was already [something he] started in middle school, and then he was kind of running various other services of, you know, products in high school that I probably wouldn’t want to go on record explicitly stating.

DS: OK.

Uh oh - he was selling weed, coke and other drugs you mean? Haha - no surprise at all, bunch of rich kids need a more "enterprising" rich kid who is their supplier they can trust.

Quote:And at the end of high school, he was trying to start up this website called Spling. He was messaging a bunch of us about trying to get investors into it and trying to get us to invest in it. He personally messaged me about it. I passed. I know a few people did. That was kind of like his first weird endeavor where it was sort of this really half-assed attempt at a Digg or a Chive spinoff. And my friends who had invested had to twist his arm for some kind of payout from it. Or, you know, they would work for him, do some marketing, and then would have to twist his arm for some kind of payout. But in the end there was sort of a legitimate product behind it. And I think he ended up raising a lot of venture capital funding out of it. I think I heard the number of, like, [$500,000] out of it from investors.

DS: Yeah, we can look it up. [Spling received $400,000 in series A funding.]

So back then he pulled in their friends - that company went belly-up soon after.

The funny thing is that the madia often does not mention that many so-called self-made millionaires came from well-connected households, uncles were sometimes billionaires. Many had access to a lot of startup capital.

Quote:We just pubbed a piece that briefly mentioned Spling and then went into Magnises. The whole thing seems like he takes ideas that are already out there and repackages them to give the appearance of “luxury” or “an elite experience,” but most of the stuff you could get by just going to Yelp or something like that.

The Magnises card was mostly a con anyway - the most you could get out of it was to party sometimes at the townhouse he rented from the proceeds.

Ah well - party seems to be over.

Post: #152

5 bucks he tries to sell his story to make a 'Hangover' type film.
Assuming there's no stipulation or clause that he can't profit from the events.

Post: #153

He was a fool to doctor documents to get investor money. The most common "gotcha" crime that the FBI indicts people on when there is other malfeasance they cannot prove is when people lie on mortgage applications to buy houses(similar to how Capone went to prison for tax evasion). If he did not do this Fyre Island fiasco and had defrauded poor people somehow(ie- people without the means do pursue legal action), he would have likely got away with it. Word to the wise: If you must commit a crime for profit do not let it become publicized, and if you get over on something do not gloat about it (ask Pharma Bro Martian).

Post: #154

(07-01-2017 12:49 PM)Atlanta Man Wrote:  He was a fool to doctor documents to get investor money. The most common "gotcha" crime that the FBI indicts people on when there is other malfeasance they cannot prove is when people lie on mortgage applications to buy houses(similar to how Capone went to prison for tax evasion). If he did not do this Fyre Island fiasco and had defrauded poor people somehow(ie- people without the means do pursue legal action), he would have likely got away with it. Word to the wise: If you must commit a crime for profit do not let it become publicized, and if you get over on something do not gloat about it (ask Pharma Bro Martian).

Yup - as soon as those documents turned up, then he was arrested. But he likely would not have gotten the millions without the forgery - which ultimately would have saved him a lot of trouble and the festival would not have happened.

Boy did not listen to his inner voice - heh - that voice was probably silenced by coke a long time ago.

My guess is that he did similar tricks in previous times before and it worked because the projects he had before had a lesser cash flow. He broke a ton of laws as well in the past, but not registering a worker is nothing compared to forging documents in order to secure million dollar investments.

Quote:He said Fyre Media had earned millions of dollars from thousands of bookings this year and last. But in reality, the complaint said, his company had taken in only $57,443.

And in one communication with an investor, Mr. McFarland supplied a Scottrade statement that he had altered to inflate his ownership of a particular company’s stock. According to the complaint, the fake document showed that Mr. McFarland owned $2.5 million in shares, when in reality his position was worth $1,500.

It was that Scottrade statement:

Quote:was arrested by federal agents on Friday and charged with one count of wire fraud.

He seemed to have duped the other one about the millions of dollars in bookings, but the trading statement seemed to have been sent at least as a screenshot to an investor and that constitutes fraud.

Post: #155

(07-01-2017 01:14 PM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  And in one communication with an investor, Mr. McFarland supplied a Scottrade statement that he had altered to inflate his ownership of a particular company’s stock.

According to the complaint, the fake document showed that Mr. McFarland owned $2.5 million in shares, when in reality his position was worth $1,500

Post: #156

Update on this for those interested:

https://patch.com/new-york/chelsea-ny/fy...-penthouse

Quote:The founder of the disastrous Fyre Festival, who was charged in June with wire fraud, is moving out of his fancy Meatpacking penthouse, according to multiple media reports.
Bill McFarland, the 25-year-old entrepreneur who is now facing a criminal charge and more than a dozen lawsuits in the wake of the failed Fyre music festival in the Bahamas, is also apparently leaving his Chelsea digs. His penthouse apartment was listed on the market for $7.495 million, the Wall Street Journal was first to report. McFarland had been renting the spacious pad before moving out, the Journal reported. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

McFarland was charged with wire fraud in June, after federal prosecutors alleged that he defrauded at least two investors of $1.2 million and wildly overstated his company's earnings to get funding for this year's Fyre Festival, the much-hyped music festival that turned out to be a flop, according to the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan.

McFarland faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
McFarland launched Fyre Media in 2016, after which he got the idea to organize the now infamous Fyre Festival in the Bahamas in April.

The music event, which was billed as a high-end, luxury retreat and promoted by celebrities, dissolved almost as soon as it started as it became clear that Fyre Media hadn't properly planned or prepared. In the months leading up to the festival, which was the brainchild of McFarland and his partner Ja Rule, it was advertised as an extravagant two-weekend getaway with top-of-the-line food, lodgings, music and ocean views. The cheapest package cost about $1,100 per person for a weekend, but more high-end accommodations were sold for between $12,4999 and $50,000 per person, according to one of multiple lawsuits filed against McFarland by outraged customers.
Ticket holders showed up on the island at the end of April and, instead of festival grounds and housing, they found that the "accommodations were little more than a FEMA-style tent lined up with hundreds of others on the beach, barely standing up against the wind and rain," according to another suit. The festival was canceled on April 28.
On top of the federal charges and multiple legal claims seeking millions, Fyre Media has left its trendy TriBeCa office space after falling nearly $35,000 behind in rent payments to its landlord, according to a legal notice posted outside the company's headquarters in May.

Sounds like the shiester will get his just dessert! I seriously doubt McFarland will see the inside of a jail cell. One can hope however.

Post: #157

I doubt that he bought the penthouse on a 7 mio. $ mortgage. If his verifiable credit was that good, then he could have used it to do other stuff. He was renting that place and having parties there that he let the card holders partake in. Essentially the Magnises bullshit card holders were paying his rent.

He may get a few years in jail, but somehow I doubt it. It's mostly dependent on one of those wire fraud points. He will be out likely in 2 years, but we will see. Unfortunately he defrauded quite powerful Hedge Fund managers - actually their wives in this case.

Post: #158

Update to the story.

He is broke, being defended by a court-appointed lawyer and is back living with his parents.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...harge.html

Quote:Fyre Festival founder 'has left his $21k a month penthouse and is living with his parents' after being released on $300k bail over charges he defrauded investors in disastrous celeb-backed event
Fyre Festival founder William McFarland left Federal Court on Saturday
He was arrested in New York City and charged with one count of wire fraud
The 25-year-old could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years
He had a court appointed attorney and went home to move back in with his parents
He used to live in a $21,750-a-month penthouse apartment
Revelers arrived at the Bahamas festival to find a wasteland of half-built tents
Its founders, McFarland and Ja Rule, have since been hit with several lawsuits
The festival was heavily backed by A-listers including model Bella Hadid

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z53cdeZu7u
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Quote:Dressed in a light blue T-shirt, jeans and Nike sneakers, McFarland, the power behind the infamous Fyre Festival, left court after posting $300,000 bail and got into a cab reportedly headed to Jersey. He used to live in a $21,750-a-month penthouse apartment home and drove a $110,000 Maserati.

I guess he still had some cash left or the parents posted the bail.
He spent some minimal time in jail though.

But the allegations are serious. Not only did he fake his stock holdings for collateral, but he also massively faked the actual turnover numbers of his Fyremedia business:

Quote:Fyre Festival founder William McFarland was pictured leaving Federal Court in New York City on Saturday with attorney Sabrina Schroff (left and right)

Quote:'I’d love to speak,' he told reporters after being released after a night in the clink. 'I’d love to say something. We’ll set it up for a better time.'

'It is clear that he did not understand the gravity and the severity of the charges until now,' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristy Greenberg. 'He is now forced to face reality.'

Nothing says reality like moving back home to mom and dad.

He still talks as if it's a PR move and he will clear up everything.


That pic says it all really.

Quote:He is accused of telling investors that Fyre Media earned millions of dollars of revenue from thousands of artist bookings from at least July 2016 until April 2017.

In reality, during that approximate time period, Fyre Media earned less than $60,000 in revenue from approximately 60 artist bookings, it is claimed.

His business just made him 60.000$ in the last year! He probably cross-financed his revenue from his scam-Magnises card to finance his lifestyle. Also I am sure that he paid off a lot of debt with the revenue for the Fyrefestival.

The entire thing reminds me truly of the Millennial "Everyone-Gets-a-Trophy" mindset. It's essentially a wealthy kid who wanted to be even richer, whose laundry and all his needs were taken care of by the maid, by the gardeners, by the money his parents made. Everything was easy - everyone can be an enterpreneur and all those self-help stuff simply says - Dream and then you only need to manifest it. Of course it's all forgotten that after each manifestation there is a ton of blood, sweat and tears, of highly competent people doing their job extremely well - many of those people warning him that he did not have the time nor the capital to pull this off.

Ah well - it does not look so good for the guy, but I am not pitying him at all.

Post: #159

Update!

He pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Sentencing not until June, but he's facing 40 years.

https://www.tmz.com/2018/03/06/fyre-fest...ire-fraud/

Post: #160

Something tells me this guy was playing to win. Probably thinking he could finance the whole thing and get some kind of investment based on valuation turnout for FF's attendee list. He bet hard and wound up losing, good try.

There are no guilty parties on this one.

Post: #161

40 years is Draconian... One of the girls that kidnapped and tortured the retarded kid in Chicago got probation.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotr...y,amp.html
I'd give dude 5 years tops. Guess that's what you get for ruining a bunch of oligarchs kids party...

Post: #162

(03-06-2018 05:51 PM)godfather dust Wrote:  40 years is Draconian... One of the girls that kidnapped and tortured the retarded kid in Chicago got probation.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotr...y,amp.html
I'd give dude 5 years tops. Guess that's what you get for ruining a bunch of oligarchs kids party...

That's how it works these days. If your crime is politically motivated against conservatives or racially motivated against whites, you get a slap on the wrist

Post: #163

In addition he got a 3 mio. $ loan just 18 days before the festival. My guess is that he should have netted over 1 mio. $ of that.

http://www.tmz.com/2017/05/11/ja-rule-fy...n-lawsuit/

Quote:The Fyre hits keep coming for Ja and Billy McFarland. EHL Funding says it loaned the duo $3 million on April 10 -- 18 days before the festival -- to help cover costs. Gotta wonder where the dough went -- based on how Fyre turned out -- and now EHL is concerned it's not going to be repaid.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Ja and Billy are supposed to make weekly payments for the next year. EHL says it received a few payments on time ... totaling just under $900k, but it's been radio silence since April 21.

After nearly 3 weeks, the lender's pissed and says Ja and Billy have defaulted on the loan -- so, it's suing to get all the money back, plus interest ... STAT!

Possibly that McFarland is keeping some of that as a safety backup.

He won't be long in prison if at all in a minimum security estate with tennis courts.

The class action lawsuit is a bit more troubling - he will probably declare private bankruptcy and any future business ventures would have to go down without his mug and name.

Honestly it was not even a bet that went wrong. It was incompetence on such a tremendous scale, that there is simply no excuse. It's pure idiocy or cocaine-riddled delusions of grandeur that everything is going to work out fine.

But even his previous business projects were better marketed than realized. He only managed to convince the media and some shmucks to believe in him.

Post: #164

Without poring over court transcripts, my guess is that investigators determined that a lot of the money was still unaccounted for but the defendant refused to say where it was stashed. In a location like the one planned there would have been a lot of cash transactions. It's possible he knew at an early stage that the thing was going to fail catastrophically but decided to milk as much cash money out of the event as he could, thinking he could stash it, do a little time and then retire to the Bahamas.

Judges don't like that attitude very much.

A bank robber who gives up the location of the cash will get FAR less time than the one who makes up bullshit stories about how it burned up in a house fire or fell off the side of his fishing boat. The guys holding out are going to get the maximum sentence possible because otherwise people start getting funny ideas about how a jail term works in to the risk/reward analysis.

Exceptions exist for people who steal enough to bribe the right politicians, which is obviously not the case for this guy.

Post: #165

< If that is that case, then he is at one time smarter and far more criminal than assumed. It's hard to obfuscate all those transactions, since the millennials certainly paid online with close to nothing being done in cash. But he could have quickly wired it elsewhere, then either withdrawn large cash amounts or moved them to digital currencies like Bitcoin.

No idea whether the estimated maximum amount of 10 mio. $ will be enough to fund his retirement due to his cocaine addiction and love for luxury. Argentina would not have honored extradition. He could have simply moved there with all the cash.

Post: #166

(03-06-2018 06:02 PM)Extinguished Light Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 05:51 PM)godfather dust Wrote:  40 years is Draconian... One of the girls that kidnapped and tortured the retarded kid in Chicago got probation.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotr...y,amp.html
I'd give dude 5 years tops. Guess that's what you get for ruining a bunch of oligarchs kids party...

That's how it works these days. If your crime is politically motivated against conservatives or racially motivated against whites, you get a slap on the wrist

Re: The bolded.

1) It's two different states, with different laws.
2) Also different judges, the White judge in the kidnapping case used his discretion* and chose not give her jail time. So the judge is anti-White even though he's White?
3) Pussy pass. The article doesn't mention how much time the men got.
4) As the Chicago kidnapping case, the NY Judge in McFarland's case will have discretion on how much time, if any, will be meted out, it could significantly less.

So it's not so cut and dry as "White victimization".

*I agree with the reasoning the judge gave, jail wouldn't have taught her a lesson...so he should given her the max sentence to keep her out of society where she could ruin more lives as long as possible. Anyone who gleefully participates in kidnapping and torture like she did is beyond redemption in my eyes.

Post: #167

What are the odds he gets a full 40 years? Maybe 25 with early release for good bahavior? 15 years with money stashed away in some shadow account for when he gets out?

Post: #168

He is eating well.

Post: #169

He took one for the team

Fyre was one of the best festivals I’ve even witnessed

Online

Post: #170

He will do no more than 5 years with fine, a lot of probation on top of that plus restitution. If I was a judge and there was no evidence of malicious intent I would just hit him with a fine, probation and restitution. If there was clear intent he does five plus restitution, and probation for ten years after he gets out.

Post: #171

(03-06-2018 07:16 PM)Goldin Boy Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 06:02 PM)Extinguished Light Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 05:51 PM)godfather dust Wrote:  40 years is Draconian... One of the girls that kidnapped and tortured the retarded kid in Chicago got probation.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotr...y,amp.html
I'd give dude 5 years tops. Guess that's what you get for ruining a bunch of oligarchs kids party...

That's how it works these days. If your crime is politically motivated against conservatives or racially motivated against whites, you get a slap on the wrist

Re: The bolded.

1) It's two different states, with different laws.
2) Also different judges, the White judge in the kidnapping case used his discretion* and chose not give her jail time. So the judge is anti-White even though he's White?
3) Pussy pass. The article doesn't mention how much time the men got.
4) As the Chicago kidnapping case, the NY Judge in McFarland's case will have discretion on how much time, if any, will be meted out, it could significantly less.

So it's not so cut and dry as "White victimization".

*I agree with the reasoning the judge gave, jail wouldn't have taught her a lesson...so he should given her the max sentence to keep her out of society where she could ruin more lives as long as possible. Anyone who gleefully participates in kidnapping and torture like she did is beyond redemption in my eyes.

Quote: [b]So the judge is anti-White even though he's White? [b]

Yes, whites are the worst offenders for anti-white bias. Heck, in Europe, there wouldn't even be enough non-whites there to matter if the native white people hadn't been taught to hate themselves.

Post: #172

(03-07-2018 06:40 AM)DarkTriad Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 07:16 PM)Goldin Boy Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 06:02 PM)Extinguished Light Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 05:51 PM)godfather dust Wrote:  40 years is Draconian... One of the girls that kidnapped and tortured the retarded kid in Chicago got probation.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotr...y,amp.html
I'd give dude 5 years tops. Guess that's what you get for ruining a bunch of oligarchs kids party...

That's how it works these days. If your crime is politically motivated against conservatives or racially motivated against whites, you get a slap on the wrist

Re: The bolded.

1) It's two different states, with different laws.
2) Also different judges, the White judge in the kidnapping case used his discretion* and chose not give her jail time. So the judge is anti-White even though he's White?
3) Pussy pass. The article doesn't mention how much time the men got.
4) As the Chicago kidnapping case, the NY Judge in McFarland's case will have discretion on how much time, if any, will be meted out, it could significantly less.

So it's not so cut and dry as "White victimization".

*I agree with the reasoning the judge gave, jail wouldn't have taught her a lesson...so he should given her the max sentence to keep her out of society where she could ruin more lives as long as possible. Anyone who gleefully participates in kidnapping and torture like she did is beyond redemption in my eyes.

Quote: [b]So the judge is anti-White even though he's White? [b]

Yes, whites are the worst offenders for anti-white bias. Heck, in Europe, there wouldn't even be enough non-whites there to matter if the native white people hadn't been taught to hate themselves.

Same as in the US, I could never be alt right because there's so many white faggots around there could never be a "master race."

American whites are better than European whites though, most of the country they are fine/don't hate themselves, the shitty whites congregate in several states mostly.

Post: #173

I thought in cases like this the convict gets a year or so with an order to pay full restitution. If they make satisfactory progress on the restitution, they're released on time but put on long probation, up to 10 years, and ordered to continue to make progress on the restitution according to a strict schedule. If they fall behind on the schedule, they go back to prison.

Post: #174

40 years might seem draconian but you're right, he fuked over the wrong people and their parents are taking it all the way. Nobody fuks with the trust fund kids unless you're organised crime.

Guys like him have always existed and sometimes they end up dead if they do it to the wrong type of people.

Post: #175

(03-07-2018 12:14 PM)godfather dust Wrote:  American whites are better than European whites though, most of the country they are fine/don't hate themselves, the shitty whites congregate in several states mostly.

"Our blacks are better than their blacks"