Fyre Festival faces Feds fraud probe

According to the New York Times, Fyre Festival, fronted by Ja Rule and Billy McFarland is now under criminal investigation by the Southern District Of New York and the FBI. The newspaper cites one source as saying that the company behind the festival was being investigated over allegations of possible mail, wire and securities fraud. The investigation is being conducted by the US Attorney's Office and is being led by a prosecutor assigned to the complex frauds and cybercrime unit.

And Canada's Pemberton Music Festival, due to take place in July, has been declared bankrupt, with poor ticket sales and currency fluctuations being given as major factors in the failure. Ticketholders will be unsecured creditors in any queue for a refund. A statement on the festival's website states that "the 2017 Pemberton Music Festival scheduled for July 13-16, 2017 is cancelled and will not proceed as scheduled. The trustee will issue formal notice of the bankruptcy proceeding to all known creditors of PMF within five days of its appointment". Despite increasing revenue from ticket sales ~100% year on year from 2014 to 2015 – US$5.8m to $10.3m – and a further $5m in 2016, revenue to date for 2017 is just $8.23m (against expenses of $22m), and festival operating companies Pemberton Music Festival Limited Partnership and General Partner, 1115666 BC Ltd now owing creditors approximately $2.5m.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/arts/music/fyre-festival-billy-mcfarland-ja-rule-criminal-investigation.html?_r=0