William McFarland, who pled guilty to fraud in March for bilking investors in the Fyre Festival, has been hit with a new charge: selling nonexistent tickets to events, in part through email.
McFarland was charged on Tuesday with one count each of wire fraud and money laundering, offenses that could land him in prison for 20 years. CBS reports that McFarland's lawyer
says he was victimized by a corrupt employee.
According to the complaint filed by federal prosecutors, McFarland offered tickets from NYC VIP Access to Fyre Festival attendees for
fashion, theater and sporting events, using the email account of an employee to disguise his involvement.
McFarland allegedly told the employees that he emailed former customers of his company
Magnises.
Prospective victims were also contacted by phone, the complaint adds.
The events included the 2018 Met Gala, Coachella 2018, Super Bowl LII and the 2018 Grammy Awards,
it continues.
“William McFarland, already awaiting sentencing for a prior fraud scheme, allegedly continued to conduct criminal business as usual, selling nonexistent tickets to fashion,
music, and sporting events,” states U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman.
Berman adds: “As alleged, McFarland’s purported exclusive event ticket company, NYC VIP Access, in fact had
no access to events for which he sold bogus tickets.”
According to Berman’s office, McFarland pled guilty to one count of wire fraud each for a scheme to defraud over 80 investors
in Fyre Media and Fyre Festival LLC of more than $24 million, and another to swindle a ticket vendor for the festival of $2 million.