The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian attorney yesterday said his firm has “nothing to hide” and “will do everything to clear our name” in relation to its involvement with the Fyre Festival debacle.

Craig Butler, principal of CF Butler & Associates, told Tribune Business that he and the company were anxious to disassociate themselves from the $26m fraud perpetrated by organiser, William McFarland, and would fully co-operate with investigators probing where the money went once they went through established legal channels.

He added that his law firm had “acted professionally at all times” in relation to the ill-fated Exuma festival, and its fees were consistent with the services it provided to McFarland and his Fyre Media Ltd company.

Mr Butler disclosed that CF Butler & Associates was among the many Bahamian businesses and individuals that McFarland left unpaid, revealing that “a large portion” of its Fyre Festival legal fees remained outstanding.

He spoke out as the southern New York federal bankruptcy court yesterday issued an Order permitting the Fyre Festival’s Chapter 7 trustee to issue subpoenas to CF Butler & Associates, and other Bahamian individuals and entities, who each received payments of $90,000 or more from McFarland.

The trustee, Gregory Messer, now has judicial permission to examine Mr Butler’s firm and the others as part of his probe to determine how McFarland, who is currently serving a six-year US jail sentence over the Fyre Festival fraud, spent their money and if there is any prospect of recovery.

Documents filed with the New York court suggest Mr Messer is especially eager to determine whether the Bahamian firms and individuals he is targeting, along with many others, provided sufficient goods and services to justify the payments they received.

Mr Butler yesterday indicated his law firm was anxious to comply with the Chapter 7 trustee’s probe given its belief it had done nothing wrong, as all Fyre Festival-related activities had been part of a standard attorney-client relationship.

Legal papers alleged that some $131,500 had been paid to Mr Butler’s company in its capacity as a “festival consultant”, but Mr Butler yesterday said this description was not accurate.

“CF Butler & Associates’ services were retained by Mr McFarland and the corporate alter ego,” he told Tribune Business. “As part of our mandate monies were received, and in accordance with the retainer we carried out their instructions.

“Once the [Chapter 7 trustee] for New York’s southern district complies with the necessary legal procedures and makes the necessary approach, I am mandated to comply with anything received under the rules; I am mandated to do so. I would be more than happy to answer any and all questions once all procedures are followed.

“I have been at the Bahamas Bar for over 20 years. My main practice is civil and corporate. I take on a lot of fiduciary duties. It is unfortunate that the principal [McFarland] turned out to be not what he presented himself to be. That is no reflection on CF Butler & Associates. We acted in the law and ensured that everything was done accordingly.”

Mr Butler then disclosed that CF Butler & Associates was among McFarland’s multiple Bahamian creditors, although he declined to state how much the law firm is still owed.

“CF Butler & Associates can state unequivocally that we acted professionally at all times, and we charged fees commensurate with the instructions received, a large portion of which remain outstanding,” he told this newspaper.

“In terms of being a ‘consultant’, we were attorneys acting in the capacity of a client who, amongst other things, wanted to construct the Festival. Everyone seemed enthusiastic about it, saw it as a good thing for the island, and it would have been but for Mr McFarland.”

Pledging full co-operation with the Chapter 7 trustee, Mr Butler added: “Anything properly brought before me, my firm has nothing to hide and we would be more than happy to comply. We don’t want to be associated with this guy.

“My firm does not want to be associated with the fraud perpetrated by McFarland. We will do everything to clear our name and show we had nothing to do with it. There was no wrongdoing on our part, and any official who wants to come down with all the proper credentials and applications and ensure that all the procedures are followed, if I can be of assistance I will be.

“I want my name cleared because the impression is being cast that I did something wrong, when neither myself or the attorney working on the matter did anything wrong. There is still an outstanding balance for the services that CF Butler provided. I need my money too.”

Mr Messer was also yesterday given the go-ahead to issue a subpoena to LeRoy Archer, former National Sports Authority (NSA) chairman and ex-managing director of BISX-listed Commonwealth Brewery, in a bid to examine him over the $100,000 he received in April 2017 for acting as a “festival consultant/investor”.

Mr Archer declined to comment when approached by Tribune Business, saying he did “not want to upset or disturb” settlement talks over unspecified products that were acquired and shipped to Exuma for the Fyre Festival.

Besides Mr Archer and CF Butler & Associates, another entity on Mr Messer’s examination list, “Chef Ellis Duff Pastries Catering”, is thought to be the Bahamian company, Chef Ellie’s Duff Pastries Catering. It allegedly received $170,000 in March 2017, probably for providing catering services, and is described in court documents as a “food/pastry vendor”.

Also named is N. C. Macduffs Ltd, which received $115,351 from McFarland and his Fyre Media entity between November 2016 and December 2017, and is described as a “bar/restaurant”. Although unclear from the court filings, this could be MacDuffs Cottages and Restaurants on Norman’s Cay.

Neither Chef Ellie’s Duff Pastries Catering nor N. C. Macduffs Ltd could be reached for comment yesterday. Phones went unanswered and messages were not returned.

Two separate documentaries released by Netflix and Hulu have sparked renewed interest in the Fyre Festival, drawing attention to the now-infamous scheme which saw investors defrauded of significant sums of money, hundreds of festival attendees left stranded after its abrupt cancellation, and numerous vendors left unpaid.

Customers who paid $1,200 to more than $100,000 hoping to see Blink-182 and the hip-hop act, Migos, arrived on Exuma only to learn they were cancelled. Their luxury accommodations and gourmet food consisted of leaky white tents and packaged food.

Chaos quickly descended after McFarland failed to deliver on anything he had promised, with most festival-goers immediately demanding their money back and seeking the quickest way off Exuma. Class-action lawsuits from attendees swiftly followed at federal courts throughout the US.

Besides being totally out of his depth, and possessing none of the experience and expertise required to organise such an event, McFarland also induced investors to part with a collective $26m through a series of lies and fraudulent misrepresentations that effectively sold them a $26m mirage. Among the falsehoods was a claim the Festival owned significant landholdings in The Bahamas.