Fyre Festival Founder Billy McFarland Arrested for Wire Fraud

More drama for Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland. On Friday (June 30), the tech businessman was arrested and charged with wire fraud after allegedly defrauding investors stemming from the Fyre Festival disaster.

Joon H. Kim, the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement (via New York Times): “McFarland allegedly presented false documents to induce investors to put over [$1.2 million] into his company and the fiasco called the Fyre Festival.” The 25-year-old is facing 20 years in prison if he gets convicted.

Stacey Richman, an attorney for Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, told NYTimes that the rapper has not been arrested in this case. “Mr. Atkins is not under arrest and we don’t perceive him to be a subject of this investigation," she said.

As we previously reported, McFarland and Ja Rule are facing multiple lawsuits regarding the Fyre Festival fiasco in April. Guests reportedly paid between $1,000 and $12,000 for a luxury experience at the Fyre Festival in the Bahamas. Unfortunately, the entire trip turned into a “disorganized mess” as stranded festival-goers had to endure torned-up tents, a lack of food, water and electricity as well as reported feral dogs wandering the festival grounds.

Among those who filed lawsuits against the pair include a plaintiff named Daniel Jung who has filed a $100 million class action lawsuit. Additionally, three more festival-goers are suing them for an undisclosed amount of money.

In the end, this is going to be a legal nightmare for both McFarland and Ja Rule.