Billy McFarland

McFarland was released early from prison in 2022 after serving nearly four years of his six-year sentence.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

McFarland pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud: losses exceeding $24 million for at least 80 investors and a further $2 million involving a ticket vendor.

Attribution

Accused

McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison for the various Fyre and NYC VIP Access schemes, as well as bank fraud and false statements. His guilty pleas involved forfeiture exceeding $26 million.

Attribution

Accused

McFarland told some Fyre Media investors that he had sold his previous company, Magnises, for approximately $40 million and personally received several million dollars, although no such sale had taken place.

Attribution

Directly implicated

McFarland supplied investors with financial statements showing millions of dollars in revenue from artist bookings, when records showed approximately $57,443 in revenue of that type during the period examined.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Directly implicated

During fundraising, McFarland supplied documents dramatically inflating the number of artist bookings, claiming over 2,500 had been confirmed in one month, whereas the company had approximately 60 confirmed bookings for the entire year.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Directly implicated

McFarland obtained $2 million from a vendor for a block of tickets to future festivals, supplying, among other materials, a heavily falsified Fyre Media financial statement.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Directly implicated

While awaiting sentencing in the Fyre case, McFarland operated NYC VIP Access and sold non-existent access to the Met Gala, Grammy Awards, Coachella, Super Bowl and other events. At least 30 victims lost approximately $150,000.

Attribution

Directly implicated

McFarland used an employee's name and account number to produce a $25,000 cheque payable to a third party, without the employee's authorisation.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Questioned by a federal agent, McFarland denied, among other things, intending to defraud former customers of his companies and claimed that the employee had authorised the cheque; he later admitted that these statements were false in his plea.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Directly implicated

McFarland admitted the offences committed while on pre-sentence release and confirmed his earlier pleas in the Fyre case.

Attribution

Accused