billymcfarland

Following Tourism Minister Chester Cooper’s labeling of Fyre Festival fraudster as “a fugitive,” Billy McFarland says he wants Bahamians to restore their trust in him as he seeks to reimburse the people he duped out of thousands of dollars in 2017.

“I would like to start making small positive steps. Unfortunately, I don’t have the backing I had five, or six years ago, but as I earn I would like to start making payments and I would like to start engaging with the community as much as possible,” McFarland said in a voice note.

McFarland was handed down a 6-year sentence in a US court in 2018 and was ordered to pay $26 million in restitution to investors and vendors. He was released in August after 4 years and has since returned to the Bahamas with cameras in tow as he embarks on a new adventure–a scavenger hunt in Bahamian waters.

This angered caterer Elvis Rolle who with his wife Maryann, lost $50,000 in food preparation for the festival that never happened.

The government on Monday then attempted to take a hard line on McFarland’s return stating that the promoter is being sought by police after “several pending complaints [were] made against him with the Royal Bahamas Police Force.”

Cooper then prompted anyone knowing of McFarland’s whereabouts to report it to the police.

While McFarland has not indicated where he is in the Bahamas, he stated, that since his release from prison, he attempted to find out which vendors needed to be reimbursed in the Bahamas and how he can take steps to repay them.

“I made some really bad decisions five years ago and I’m learning the ramifications of my actions.

“There’s nothing more I want to do than rebuild trust,” he said.

McFarland conducted an interview with Good Morning America last week after his release from prison and apologized to the vendors and investors he conned.

In April 2017, McFarland along with Ja Rule organized the Fyre Festival, promoting it as a luxurious music event in Exuma. Several celebrities got on board to promote the event including Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid. But when thousands of concertgoers landed on the island, they were met with tents stocked with wet mattresses, cold food, and music acts that never showed up.

Following Billy McFarland’s recent release from prison for defrauding investors and vendors of millions of dollars, he is back in the Bahamas on a treasure hunt.

McFarland will be followed by producers of a documentary as he shows his adventures in After the Fyre. Cameras will follow him as he pays back vendors the $26 million he defrauded in 2017.

Famed Bahamian caterers featured in the Netflix film The Greatest Party That Never Happened, Maryann and Elvis Rolle were conned out of $50,000 and were never refunded but recouped their losses through GoFundMe donations.

Elvis spoke to the Tribune: “From the time they left the country, I haven’t heard nothing from them. Almost five, six years, whatever time it is, I never heard anything from them.”

McFarland has been teasing his latest adventure on social media where participants must track down one of 99 bottles with a message contained inside.

The video McFarland posted to social media shows participants surprised with a treasure hunt to the Bahamas as they dive into Bahamian waters to retrieve the bottles.

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It is not known what part of the Bahamas McFarland has returned to for the latest venture, but Elvis said since McFarland has been released from prison, he should “make sure everybody’s paid and pay this money down before he touches down in this country.”

In April 2017, McFarland along with Ja Rule organized the Fyre Festival, which was originally promoted as a luxurious music event in Exuma, Bahamas. Several celebrities got on board to promote the event including Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid. But when thousands of concertgoers landed in Exuma, the high-profile music festival was a nightmare.

Concertgoers complained of tents stocked with wet mattresses, being served cold food, and music acts that never showed up.

McFarland served 4 years of the 6 years handed down in his sentencing and issued an apology to investors and vendors for his wrongdoing.

Following his recent release from prison, Fyre Festival Founder Billy McFarland is apologizing for defrauding investors and vendors caught up in his failed music festival fiasco that was to be held in Exuma in 2017.

“I need to apologize. And that is the first and the last thing that needs to be done. I let people down. I let down employees. I let down their families. I let down investors. So I need to apologize. I’m wrong and it’s bad.”

McFarland spoke to Good Morning America for the first time since his early release from prison after he pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud and was ordered to pay investors, vendors and concertgoers $26 million in restitution.

Bahamian caterer Maryann Rolle and her husband Elvis were duped into spending more than $50,000 to provide thousands of meals to attendees. After sympathizers watched their story in a Netflix film, the couple was able to recoup nearly $200,000 through Go FundMe.

“I was wrong. I messed up. And I was so driven by this desperate desire to prove people right … I think I was just so insecure that I thought the only way to prove myself to them was to succeed,” McFarland said. “That led me down just this terrible path of bad decisions.”

In April 2017, McFarland along with Ja Rule organized the Fyre Festival, which was originally promoted as a luxurious music event in Exuma, Bahamas. Several celebrities got on board to promote the event including Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid.

But when thousands of concertgoers landed on the island of Exuma, the high-profile music festival was a nightmare. Concertgoers complained of tents stocked with wet mattresses, being served cold food and music acts that never showed up.

“I started lying to get the money and I would literally wake up every day to a document that we called, ‘Urgent Payment Sheet.’ And it had an amount of money that I had to acquire before the bank closed that day to stop the company from going underwater,” he continued. “So I was literally day-by-day doing whatever it took. And looking back, it was so incredibly stupid.”

Hundreds of other local Bahamian workers were duped into working on behalf of McFarland and his doomed event.

It is not known if McFarland reached out to Rolle and other Bahamian vendors since his release from prison.

McFarland is now promoting another event.