Gorilla dancer to "Maniac" in a pool, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. AND YOU DELIVER. pic.twitter.com/2MYN5uEKbg
— Jeff Elder (@JeffElder) June 23, 2017
(It’s okay to laugh, the experts assure us Zola’s enjoying himself.)
Apart from pool partying, what’s on the agenda for the day?
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My old man, who spent his working career as a dockmaster for the NY Port Authority, used to tell us one of the great criminal conundrums: You could steal from poor people and get away with it, because nobody with the power to punish cared about poor people… but poor people seldom have much worth stealing. On the other hand, it’s much more profitable in the short term to steal from rich people, but rich people will expend disproportionate amounts of money and effort to punish anyone who they suspect of stealing from them.
Looks like the man behind the (Dumpster)Fyre Fest is about to discover how true that is…
New tonight: Billy McFarland, the man behind Fyre Festival, has been charged with wire fraud pic.twitter.com/QKIcioFfcO
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) July 1, 2017
Per the NYTimes, which of course sympathizes deeply with the ripped-off richies:
… Billy McFarland, the entrepreneur behind the Fyre Festival, which was sold as an ultraluxurious music event in the Bahamas but collapsed spectacularly in April, leaving behind angry ticket buyers, investors and workers, was arrested by federal agents at his home in Manhattan on Friday and charged with one count of wire fraud.
Federal prosecutors announced the charge involves a scheme to defraud investors, which included misrepresenting financial information about Mr. McFarland’s company, Fyre Media. His representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Joon H. Kim, the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement: “McFarland allegedly presented fake documents to induce investors to put over a million dollars into his company and the fiasco called the Fyre Festival.” If convicted, Mr. McFarland could face a maximum of 20 years in prison, but is likely to receive a lesser sentence…
According to the complaint, sworn to by Brandon Racz, a special agent with the F.B.I., at least two people invested about $1.2 million in the two companies, and in communications with these investors in 2016 and 2017, Mr. McFarland repeatedly overstated Fyre Media’s revenue from bookings and his own wealth.
He said Fyre Media had earned millions of dollars from thousands of bookings this year and last. But in reality, the complaint said, his company had taken in only $57,443.
And in one communication with an investor, Mr. McFarland supplied a Scottrade statement that he had altered to inflate his ownership of a particular company’s stock. According to the complaint, the fake document showed that Mr. McFarland owned $2.5 million in shares, when in reality his position was worth $1,500…
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