A federal judge has approved a petition against Billy McFarland's Fyre Fest LLC that will force the company into Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Billboard reports.
Judge Martin Glenn sided with a trio of investors who claimed they lended McFarland $530,000 to help fund this spring's bungled Fyre Festival, and were never repaid. According to their lawyer, Robert Knuts, Fyre Fest LLC did not attempt to contest the petition.
"If the money was burned up in the Bahamas we're not going to be able to recover it but at least we'll know where it went," Knuts said.
Judge Glenn has ordered McFarland to "file all schedules, statements, lists and other documents that are required under the Federal and Local Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure."
The festival, which promised performances from the likes of G.O.O.D. Music and Blink 182 at a luxurious tropical paradise in the Bahamas, was a complete disaster and prompted numerous lawsuits against McFarland. From a New York Times investigation:
Well into March, the event’s website — which briefly vanished because its designer had not been paid — claimed it would take place on Fyre Cay, a private island that once belonged to the drug lord Pablo Escobar. Ticket packages included the $400,000 “Artist’s Palace,” with four beds, eight V.I.P. tickets and dinner with one festival performer.
But there was no such island or palace. Fyre employees recalled higher-ups inventing extravagant accommodations just to see if people would buy them — and some did, they said.
Earlier this summer, McFarland was arrested on charges of fraud for allegedly making "false representations to investors." He faces up to 20 years in prison.
