All language subtitles for American Greed s13e02 The Fyre Festival

In this episode of American Greed, the
Fyre Festival.

This glossy promotional video pitches it
as the greatest music festival ever.

You know, beautiful models frolicking in
the water in the Bahamas.

Fyre Festival.

It's supposed to be like the most insane
festival the world has ever seen.

But Fyre Fest is a complete disaster
that quickly goes viral. Welcome to Fyre

Festival.

And the mastermind behind it all, 25
-year -old Billy McFarland.

Billy had a lot of obvious talents, but
the greatest one was selling himself.

In scam after scam, he defrauded more
than 100 of his investors of

$27 million.

He was a serial fraudster.

He's someone with a lot of resources.

He can do either really great things or
also really terrible things.

We are just in LAX.

About to go to... Bahamas.

On April 27, 2017, thousands of ticket
holders and social media

influencers are flocking to the Fyre
Festival, a star -studded music fest.

26 -year -old video producer Amanda
Brooks is lured by the promise of

in this promotional video.

A villa, gourmet food, an all -star
lineup, even a treasure hunt.

There were millions of dollars of
prizes, and you could rent the jet skis

and find the clues, and it sounded like
a really fun experience.

But the reality on the ground.

is more like a scene from The Hunger
Games.

The first thing we see is people running
for tent and fighting over tent.

People spent $10 ,000 to go to this
thing.

How could they not have anything set up?

Like, this is not what I signed up for.

In the concert industry, there has never
been anything that remotely rivals the

disaster that the Fyre Festival became.

But this fiasco isn't the first for
festival organizer Billy McFarland.

Magnusis is the concierge platform that
connects millennials with new people,

products, and services.

In 2015, 23 -year -old Billy McFarland
is the founder and CEO of a buzzworthy

company called Magnesis.

And Billy had an idea.

What if you could create your own black
card?

McFarland and his friends think the
American Express black card is the

status symbol. But they don't make
enough money to qualify.

So McFarland finds a vendor in China and
decides to create his own.

And Billy knew that would appeal to his
young friends. Yeah, I'll just put this

on my black card.

But the Magnesis black card isn't a real
credit card.

McFarland's company simply takes the
magnetic strip from a user's ordinary

credit card and duplicates it.

Cardholders actually link up their real
debit and credit card and use their

Magnesis card every day regularly.

It was kind of the...

In my mind, sort of the champion for the
fake it till you make it kind of crowd.

For $250 a year, members get a 24 -7
concierge service and access to

exclusive parties and events.

He rented a townhouse, a nice townhouse,
and Magnesis cardholders were able to

use this to hang out in at an open bar.

You know, rappers come in.

There's some NBA and NFL players that
started using it.

And within months, Billy starts
attracting press attention.

McFarland raises $3 million and counts
billionaire oil and gas titan Aubrey

McClendon among his early investors.

That was the biggest calling card he
could possibly bring out. I've got money

from Aubrey McClendon. Are you in?

McFarland's staff grows to 20. He
travels by private plane, drives a

And cements his reputation as one of the
city's hottest young entrepreneurs.

He's had a great Magnesis Plus launch
party in D .C.

He had a real sense of, I'm a young man
going places. And if you didn't know it,

I'll tell you. So we're 20 months in,
and we just eclipsed 10 ,000 members

across New York City and Washington, D
.C.

But former employees say that McFarland
is grossly inflating membership numbers

to make Magnesis appear more successful.

and the business is actually struggling
for cash.

Problems with McNeese's really grew as
it attempted to grow. They're making

promises, you know, to members, we'll
get you a private jet, we'll get you

tickets to Hamilton.

McFarland sells tickets to hit Broadway
shows and to A -list concerts like

Beyonce, Adele, and Kanye West.

But McFarland doesn't actually have
access.

He's just taking the cash.

and buying scalp seats at premium
prices.

Some members receive their tickets, but
many do not, and headlines show the

complaints are pouring in.

They started losing a lot of the
original members, and so it really

company of failed promises, big dreams,
and a little follow -through.

By May 2016, McFarlane appears bored
with Magnetis and is looking for his

move.

He starts a new company called Fire
Media and touts an app that gives users

simple way to book celebrities for
events.

So what he was trying to do is create
almost a tender for artists where you

would make an offer and book these shows
directly.

Sort of take out that middle man.

And McFarlane's new business partner is
rapper Ja Rule.

Well, I'm going to let my partner in
crime here, Billy McFarlane, Give you

an introduction of what FIRE is and what
it's bringing to the table.

How's it going, guys? So three years
ago, I started... Ja Rule, let's just

was no longer at the peak of his career.

I mean, to Ja Rule, Billy looked like
the real deal.

I've loved Ja Rule since I was a kid,
and I really wanted to book talent for

these small private conferences.

But then seriously, if you're worth $50
million and you can hire Beyonce,

You're going to do that from an app?

Despite the challenges, McFarland does
what he does best.

You know, Billy had a lot of obvious
talents, but the greatest one was

himself.

And investors line up.

Billy would take money from anybody who
was looking for the next big thing.

There's a lot of people like that in
Manhattan.

Marketing executive Carola Jayne sees
promise in the young McFarland.

Jane is married to a high -profile hedge
fund manager and is a savvy investor

herself. She reportedly puts together a
$4 million loan to help grow Fire Media.

And McFarland is off and running.

He sets up headquarters in a swanky new
office space in Tribeca. With a team of

engineers and designers building the
app, McFarland is looking for ways to

promote it.

And he finds inspiration while on
vacation in the Bahamas and pitches a

idea to his bartender.

And he's like, tell her, let me ask you
a question. What do you think about us

having a music festival here?

When American Greed returns,

Billy McFarlane has a vision of a luxury
music festival.

And he hires the world's top supermodels
to help him sell it.

We had models flying in, different
models.

We had Bella Hadid and all those girls.

In 2016, Billy McFarland is island
hopping in the Bahamas when McFarland

his private plane runs dangerously low
on fuel.

The pilot makes a pit stop on Norman's
Cay.

In the 1970s, the Cay served as a
cocaine smuggling hub for Carlos Lader,

associate of Pablo Escobar.

Today, Norman's Cay has just a single
airstrip to serve a few dozen residents.

Despite these obvious limitations,
McFarlane sees this tiny island as the

perfect spot to stage a huge music
festival as a way to promote his new

celebrity booking app.

I'm like Billy. A music festival on
Arminsky?

You love to spend, like, a lot of cash
just to get that to work.

Delroy Jackson is a bartender on the
island.

Billy is like, I'll see you in two
weeks. I'm like, yeah, whatever, dude.

Exactly two weeks.

I saw Billy exit on the plane, right? He
said, I told you I'd be back.

McFarland is back with his fire media
team in tow, including partner Ja Rule.

McFarland doesn't have any experience
planning a music festival, but he does

have a vision of the ultimate fantasy
experience.

He knew instinctively that if you want
to make this app hot, then you must

create some advertising or a message
that is hot and sizzling.

And nothing sizzles more than bikini
-clad supermodels.

McFarlane shells out more than one and a
half million dollars to hire the

biggest names in the business.

Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, and
Alessandra Ambrosio.

I bet he was up.

He said, hey, those are Victoria's
Secret models.

See, now we're going to have a music
festival, right? But before we had the

festival, we had to do, like, a
promotional video.

The money seemed to flow pretty freely.

We spent close to $40 ,000 on the yacht.

He wanted me to photograph him on a jet
ski.

And then he says, like, today we're
going to go film me swimming with the

sharks.

Like, were we there for a marketing
video or were we there to, like, hang

and just have fun?

At night, that's when the party starts.

So, you know, I got to make it happen,
right?

I think it was more just like an excited
child in a

candy store. I think all of them were
very young and had no real experience.

Oren Axe is a graphic designer managing
the social media rollout.

On December 12, 2016, Axe launches the
campaign on Instagram.

And in a highly coordinated effort, more
than 400 influencers, models, athletes,

artists, and actors simultaneously post
a mysterious orange tile linked to this

glitzy video.

Among them is model and reality TV star
Kendall Jenner, who reportedly has paid

$250 ,000 for a single post that will be
seen by her 102 million

followers.

And you're just getting orange after
orange after orange, and you're asking

questions.

The offerings range from general
admission packages with private villas

$500.

to a luxury yacht experience costing
$250 ,000.

This video shown here goes viral, and
tickets are selling fast.

It marketed a come frolic with the
supermodels lifestyle.

And you don't have to be anybody.

You just have to have the money to do
it.

It was an alluring and a powerful
message.

And, you know, he got thousands of
people who bought tickets.

I'm watching that on the islands of
Pablo Escobar.

I'm like, okay, hey, B, you're looking
good so far, but Pablo Escobar don't own

this. You're going to get a lawsuit.

McFarlane's associates say he was asked
not to mention any connection to drug

smugglers.

And Jackson's right.

Pablo Escobar never actually owned
Norman's key.

But why let facts get in the way of a
good story?

He said, yeah, don't worry about that,
man.

In America, they love the name Pablo
Escobar. So once they see Escobar,

going to jump on it.

I'm like, B, all right, that's on you.

Norman's key officials are reportedly
not amused by McFarlane's myth -making.

We were immediately kicked off the
premises, and then, you know, FIRE was

able to do anything related to the FIRE
Festival on that island.

FIRE Festival is just four months away.

McFarland needs to find a new island,
and fast.

You've got to remember, most people
don't plan their own wedding in four

And so to anyone involved with music
production, like, you would know that

you're not going to pull this off.

When American Greed returns, McFarland
has sold a fantasy and reality bites

back. Billy was warned point blank. You
are killing your brand if you sell

something that doesn't exist.

And yet that's exactly what he did.

In the spring of 2017, this video
promotes a paradise of gourmet food,

villas, and supermodels, all on a
private island in the Bahamas.

From a marketing standpoint, the Fyre
Festival is a stroke of genius and

generating big buzz.

But organizer Billy McFarlane has a huge
problem.

He has no island.

He was just stunningly ignorant of what
it would take to make his promises a

reality. After nearly two months of
searching, McFarland finds a spot on

Exuma. But Great Exuma is not a remote
or private island.

And the festival site is an abandoned
resort development full of roads to

nowhere.

McFarland doesn't announce the island
change.

He just renames it Fire Key.

With no infrastructure and no villas,
McFarland will need to build Fire Key

the ground up in a mere two months.

He thought it would somehow happen
because he imagined it. In fact, they

the two largest contractors who do this
type of thing. And Billy and his guys

were like, $12 million?

You're crazy. This can be done for $500
,000.

And I talked to people in the business.

Crows who've been doing this for
decades, who go back to Woodstock, who

like, this kid had no idea.

The fest is scheduled for the same
weekend as the annual regatta, Exuma's

biggest holiday.

And all of the hotels are already sold
out.

They all asked the same question. So
where are these villas?

And Billy said, well, you're going to
provide them.

Nobody had any villas and everybody
thought everybody else was going to

them.

We wanted to understand, okay, how does
the beach look, you know?

And they're like, oh, oh, the beach.

Funny you ask. It's five miles away.

And I'll say in the same way, Billy,
this cannot happen.

Based on the time frame that you want us
to pull this off, it cannot happen.

Despite the warnings, McFarlane plows
ahead.

When I got to site, you know, there was
nothing.

It was just gravel.

Nick Patero is an event producer, one of
dozens brought in to try to pull off

the impossible.

An event like this would take about 18
months of full planning and execution.

But McFarland, as documented here by his
own photographer, doesn't appear

worried. He convinces his team to look
beyond reason and believe in him.

Billy's personality is kind of
intoxicating.

He pulls a yes out of you one way or
another.

Back in New York City, investment
advisor Calvin Wells takes a call from a

friend who was considering investing $5
million in Fire Media, a startup that

McFarlane claims is already worth $90
million.

And when I got the pitch deck, it
showed, you know, headline artists. You

Beyonce on there. You had Jay -Z.

And then they were basically showing
that you could access these people

directly.

Wells knows that these artists are
locked into long -term contracts with

talent agencies.

I believe very firmly that this was not
a legitimate operation.

I said don't invest. It doesn't make any
sense.

His friend won't take the bait.

But Wells discovers McFarland is close
to clinching a deal with Comcast

Ventures, the investment arm of the
cable giant, for an investment of up to

million.

I became sort of alarmed at how
successful he'd been in marketing this

So I'm watching this thing unfold on the
Fyre Instagrams where they posted Fyre

Island. I sort of filtered the photo and
overlaid it with a Google map of Great

Zuma. and saw that basically they had
just sort of colored in the bottom part

a subset map and make it look like it
was an island. I knew that they were

lying.

Wells knows he's on the trail of
something big.

I decided for myself to go check it out
and did some

real gumshoe investigative work.

One of my favorite things that we
discovered was the half -domed tent.

And so when you compare it to the luxury
villa, you know, it's being showed

with, like, electricity and air
conditioning. The juxtaposition, I

pretty great.

Wells warns Comcast not to invest and
creates an anonymous Twitter handle,

Fraud, and tries to get the word out.

Hashtag Fire Festival is a fraud.

But Instagram posts, show tickets are
still selling.

The buzz and the hype around it was just
so intense. You know, the heat of a

thousand suns. It was impossible for
sort of logic and reason to deflate any

the enthusiasm for it. What I didn't
know was who else was going to be

Wells doesn't know it yet, but investors
have already given McFarland millions

of dollars.

When American Greed returns, McFarland's
fantastic vision is on a collision

course with reality.

I said, Billy, you know you're going to
jail for this, right?

I said, because keep in mind, you're
selling the people a dream.

In March of 2017, preparations for the
Fyre Festival kick up to a frenzied

Staff is working around the clock trying
to transform Roker's Point on Great

Exuma into the mythical land of Fire Key
that McFarland has promoted online.

There were, I think, 650 tents that
needed to get put up. We had to now move

assignments from not even what people
paid for to what was built.

McFarland recruits day laborers on the
island, and they show up in droves.

We had basically the whole island.

Everything that was available and free,
we had working on Roka's Point.

Ended up being 18 hours a day, you know?
It was crazy.

Electrician Ricky Curling joins the
team.

Brought all of my electricians there.

We were wiring up kitchens, hooking up
generators.

We were doing it all, you know what I
mean? So the people in the Bahamas, we

in 100%.

Curling is working on credit for
McFarland, but paying 15 of his own men

his pocket week after week.

I said, I got to quit. I can't keep
doing this. I can't keep paying these

But according to Curling, McFarland
assures him and a handful of other

that the money is on the way, and he
sends wire transfer confirmations to

it. So this stuff would come up on the
email or pop up on your phone and said,

Confirmation that money was sent, so we
kept going. Because down here, it's

probably sometimes a week before the
money actually shows up. So if you're

patient, you wait a week.

In New York, dancer and artist Daryl
Thorne is gearing up to perform at the

festival.

I was so excited. I was super excited. I
mean, it seemed like a huge

opportunity.

Thorne creates 36 new headpieces.

and assembled a team of 12 dancers.

The only thing that changed leading up
to the event was that I was encouraged

spend more money.

They called me and said, oh, we want
body paint for all of the guests.

And so three days or four days before I
even went, they had me spend another $3

,000, which came out of my pocket.

What is this facade that you're putting
together that everything's all good when

everything seems to be crumbling?

What no one knows is that Comcast
Ventures has pulled out of the deal.

In a statement to American Greed,
Comcast Ventures says, after conducting

thorough due diligence, we were
unsatisfied with the results and passed

investment.

And without that influx of millions,
everything is collapsing.

And one day the fire credit card bounced
and I personally got charged $1 ,000.

And then customs just completely held
materials because customs bills weren't

paid.

McFarland has burned through all of the
investor money, and he owes millions on

a string of short -term loans.

And after a week, vendors like Ricky
Curling discover the wire transfers are

phony, and there is no money.

How do you do that to someone?

Like, how do you expect, you know,
nobody to find out?

Yeah, good at being fake.

You know, he's good at it.

The walls are closing in on McFarland.

His event producers need money, and they
are demanding it from him now.

So there's no money?

When we were all freaking out, he was
off on a jet ski or off on a dune buggy.

You know, I never saw him buckle under
any pressure.

I physically saw people break down, but
him, never.

The last minute, Billy starts saying,
okay, we're going to go cashless.

Two weeks out, McFarland sends emails
pushing attendees to load up their fire

bands with money.

You can sign up for a yoga class. You
can rent a jet ski. The average festival

goer is loading three grand onto their
wristband.

You don't want to miss out.

Billy went this way because he wanted
the money up front. He needed the money

now.

And the ploy works.

McFarlane reportedly takes in nearly $2
million, and he manages to keep the

festival afloat, but can't stem the tide
of chaos.

Oh, island change?

Must be just an island change, but the
treasure hunt is probably still

happening. And then they switched again,
and then now there's no treasure hunt.

The private beach disappeared.

The private plane disappeared.

The chef disappeared. Like, everything
disappeared.

But Orrin Axe is directed to keep
churning out the same glamorous images.

And the website is still selling VIP
tickets for thousands of dollars and

villas that do not exist.

But some ticket holders are growing
suspicious and turning to social media

answers.

It just kept getting bigger and louder
and louder.

It got to a point where they were backed
against the wall.

It was just immediate texts or emails or
phone calls.

You know, we have to delete this.

They were actively, like, deleting the
questions. We told them not to do it,

it was just like, that was how they
thought that they can stop the noise.

Billy just said, we'll get it done.
We'll be fine.

And I don't know how you can say that
when you promise villas and there are no

villas. No, you've promised fire key.
There's no fire key.

Ultimately, he borrowed so much money in
the end, spent so much money that the

only way he'd ever get his money back
was by putting this thing on.

It is April 27th. The first guests will
be arriving in less than 12 hours.

We're going day four, no sleep.
Everybody's kind of losing it.

And it just started pouring, and I was
like, you know, if this isn't an omen,

then what is?

Even God didn't want this wrestle to get
off.

The tans are soaked, and the site is
ravaged.

I know people who begged to cancel.

We're just not ready. We're going to be
endangering people. How can we do this?

And he couldn't.

And he still thinks that he's going to
get out of it. I just...

That, to me, is one of the great
mysteries of Billy.

I mean, everyone's supposed to be here,
like Bella Hadid,

Kendall Jenner.

Just, it's insane.

It's the morning of Fyre Festival, and
thousands of ticket holders are flooding

the airports, ready for the adventure of
a lifetime.

And we have our wristbands.

There we go.

But there are rumblings of problems on
the ground.

You know, your private plane, the
chartered plane, that's very sketchy.

Blink -182, the musical headliner, has
just announced on Twitter they won't be

performing.

In Exuma, guests are herded onto school
buses.

The moment I realized that this was not
happening and that I've been working on

this like fraud.

It was the moment that we went over the
hill, and I saw on the horizon the

tents. Oh, no!

What's happening? There's no water over
there. Look at the bed.

These are UN refugee tents.

This isn't going to work. Like, this
can't be what this is.

The stages are empty, and it's every man
for himself.

And everybody's looking around. Where
are the villas? Here, have a shot.

They just were handing out bottles to
people because they wanted everyone to

distracted and drunk.

It was just very chaotic. You could tell
that everyone is very stressed and very

tense and very overwhelmed.

We have literally been standing here for
like an hour.

And then Billy stands up on this giant
wooden table and goes, everybody, just

pick a tent.

People stampede for these tents, and
they're wet, they're soggy, and yet

are stealing bed covers and stealing
tents and fighting over them because

are marooned in a foreign country. It's
an absolute disaster.

Festival goers, light up social media.

You know, social media exploded with,
like, hashtag fire fail, hashtag fire

fraud.

Every headliner has backed out. There's
a bunch of people who have nowhere to

stay. It's 8 .36 and people are now just
getting their luggage.

I am stranded in the Bahamas amid
thousands of other extremely unlucky

goers. The fire festival is cancelled,
but it's an absolute circus. I don't

what's going on.

I'm supposed to be getting a massage on
the beach and getting on a jet ski with

Kendall Jenner. It seems like a good
idea.

And then it was such a scam.

When American Greed returns, the
festival collapse has landed Billy

the radar of the feds.

This was people who had been led to a
foreign country with promises of things

that did not exist.

And so it was not only a disaster, it
was pretty clearly a disaster with fraud

at its roots.

Hear from other vendors who say they
were burned by McFarland.

at AmericanGreed .CNBC .com.

Want inside information from the show?

Join the Greed social network.

Like us on American Greed's Facebook
page.

We'll be right back.

Concert goers lured to the inaugural
Fyre Music Festival in the Bahamas this

weekend say they're feeling burned.

On April 28th, 2017, the disastrous Fyre
Festival is making headlines around the

world. And festival attendees are just
trying to get home.

We don't even know.

You're stranded.

We're just waiting on flights to get
here. No!

Everybody forming line.

At the gate, they came for their
paycheck. They're like, hey, we want our

Hundreds of locals on Great Exuma have
worked for weeks on credit, and now

McFarland is gone.

They were demanding answers, but, like,
who do you ask for money, you know?

Like, they came and they left, you know?

They fled the island, basically, is what
happened.

Daryl Thorne is stranded on Exuma.

and says he is still owed more than $21
,000.

I was really upset and really, like, how
could you just leave us? Just leave,

like, and just walk away from this and
leave the people who are working this

event to kind of dig our way out. Like,
that was so upsetting.

Within days, the lawsuits pile up,
including a $100 million class action

Meanwhile, many fire media employees
back home are stunned.

They have been building a platform that
they believe would revolutionize the

talent booking industry.

Now, they discover it's all been lies,
and McFarlane doesn't have answers.

Well, unfortunately, we are not able to
proceed with payroll immediately.

That said, if you want to stick with us,
we'd love to have you.

So I'm unclear as to how you're asking
us to remain employed while not paying

us.

I think we've been misled, to put it
lightly.

Billy, should we have any concern about
the FBI?

I don't know. I think that's an
individual thing.

By now, the FBI is, in fact, on the
case.

McFarland stepped over that line. His
vision was mountainous, but his business

plan was debilitated.

Agents discovered that McFarland lured
investors by claiming fire media was

worth $90 million.

But that was pure fiction.

He produced fake financial statements.
The documents themselves looked

legitimate. And he presented this
persona about himself as being

The FBI finds that McFarland told
investors the FIRE app had more than 4

bookings in a year. In reality, they
were just 60.

He claimed that FIRE Media earned
hundreds of thousands to millions each

in revenue. But in one year, the app
earned just $57 ,000.

He claimed even at one point that there
was a period of time that he had

generated between $40 and $50 million
per month.

McFarland assured investors and lenders
that he could personally guarantee their

money. He claimed to own an island
valued at $8 .4 million and $2

.5 million worth of Facebook stock.

McFarland produced a fake Scottrade
account that showed up $2 .5 million.

In reality, he only possessed about $1
,500 worth of that publicly traded

company. And McFarland created a
completely fictitious buyer for

He had provided to them documents that
stated that he had sold Magnesis for $40

million and that he was going to sustain
millions in profit as a result of it.

In reality, he did not sell the business
and that was a lie to the investors.

Ultimately, McFarland took in more than
$27 million from more than 100

investors. Some of the investors lost
their life savings.

I think it's more indicative of just
like sociopathic behavior.

We're not internalizing the damage that
you're doing. All that you know is that

you're very good at taking people's
money and putting it in your pocket.

On June 30th, 2017, Billy McFarland is
arrested at his apartment and charged

with wire fraud.

While awaiting trial, McFarland is out
on bail.

But even facing potential years in
prison, this serial scammer just can't

himself.

Up next.

We're basically selling a 2018 Grammy
ticket.

VIP access, baby.

In November 2017, disgraced Fyre
Festival founder Billy McFarland is out

on bail, facing fraud charges.

But he hasn't missed a beat.

McFarland is still paying more than $41
,000 a month for his apartment and

hitting up hot spots.

Most criminals want to stay out of the
limelight, so they don't want to do

anything that's going to get them in
trouble. He decided that that didn't

to him.

McFarland quietly starts a new business
called NYC VIP, which claims to sell

tickets to exclusive events.

He didn't want the customers to know
that it was Billy McFarland. So he

recruited an employee that he would pay
and he would be the face of the

business.

Frank Tribble is the front man, but
McFarland is the one calling all the

Let me type up what you want for that
and I'll send it back to you.

All right, Josh.

I'm just going to call the list.

If they don't pick up, you're going to
send them an email. I'll write a shirt

for you right now.

McFarlane shamelessly targets the same
people who were ripped off by the Fyre

Fest.

I'm just saying, how did this person get
my email? How do I unsubscribe?

So a dinner with LeBron James, Coachella
VIP passes, tickets to the Met Gala,

tickets to the Masters.

But the tickets do not exist.

McFarland is back to his old tricks.

He's selling access to exclusive events
that people really want to get into.

With the Grammy Awards, one victim who
had received tickets...

had flown to New York, had bought a new
outfit, had stayed at a hotel and turned

up at the Grammys and was turned away
because there were no tickets for her.

Some 15 victims wire McFarlane more than
$100 ,000.

McFarlane is arrested again.

He was a serial fraudster.

In his own mind, he was too big to fail.

It's very hard for individuals to accept
failure, especially those who feel like

they are bigger than life.

McFarland ultimately pleads guilty to
five counts, including wire fraud and

fraud.

No other fire media employees have been
charged.

McFarland settled civil charges with the
SEC and is barred for life from serving

as an officer or director of a public
company.

The class action claims against Ja Rule
have been dismissed.

He has not faced criminal charges and
tweets that he too was duped by

Ja Rule declined to speak to American
Greed.

The models who promoted the festival
have apologized, saying they couldn't

known it would turn out to be a fraud.

But investors and ticket holders will
never be made whole.

McFarland spent all the money he took
in. The damage was real because

were duped and festival goers were
bilked out of hundreds of thousands of

dollars.

And hundreds of employees and day
laborers will never be paid.

I worked on a weekly rate and I was
never paid once.

And the next six months, a year of my
time in L .A. was like a hellhole of

figuring out where I'm going to pay my
bills.

It was like an island was robbed, you
know, and I can't find an excuse for

Electrician Ricky Curling worked 18
-hour days and says he is still owed $40

,000.

He has six kids to support and has been
hit hard.

So I came this close to losing the
property. I had to borrow money to pay

the property.

So, I mean, I learned a lesson.

Let me put it like that.

Got to be resilient.

If I let that kill me, I still have to
support my family. I can't just dwell on

that. I have to move to the next step,
you know?

Billy McFarland is sentenced to six
years in federal prison in order to pay

million in restitution.

He's expected to be released in 2023.

Billy, you know, Billy's so young. He'll
be out by the time he's 30.

I'm sometimes asked, do you think we've
heard the last of Billy McFarlane? I

mean, after all, the guy's in jail.

And I will bet you $100 that you'll hear
from him again.

I mean, there's just no way he
disappears.