It’s been a long road since April 2017’s Fyre Festival, but it seems the saga is finally nearing an end. The Securities and Exchange Commission has officially settled with Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland and two of his co-conspirators to the tune of $27.4 million.
Earlier this year, McFarland was forced to forfeit $26 million as part of a plea deal. Now, McFarland, as well as Grant Margolin (his CMO) and Daniel Simon (an independent contractor), are ordered to pay a total of $27.4 million to the victims of the festival. Though that number merely ends up a technicality, as the SEC said in their release that the $26 million from the plea deal will suffice.
Each co-conspirator was charged with “violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.” In addition to the fine, McFarland has also been permanently barred from serving as either an officer or a director of a public company. Margolin owes $35,000, and agreed to a 7-year ban; Simon owes $15,000, and has been banned for three years.
Just one of the ways that McFarland defrauded investors in the planning of Fyre Festival was, according to an SEC press release, “giving investors a doctored brokerage account statement purporting to show personal stock holdings of over $2.5 million when, in reality, the account held shares worth under $1,500.”
Finally McFarland gets what he deserves.
via Verge