Eat More Crypto
This Week In Blunders – May 18-24
The drinks did not flow and the food reportedly sucked at President Donald Trump’s $148 million, black-tie meme coin dinner on Friday.
Far more impressive was the open celebration of corruption.
The gala at Trump’s Virginia golf club was for his top $Trump meme coin holders. And the No. 1 token holder was Justin Sun, who is currently facing Securities and Exchange Commission charges for crypto-related fraud.
Those charges, of course, have been put on pause for now.
I won’t try to explain why this “pay-to-play” gathering goes beyond the corruption of any other U.S. president, as Trump’s critics have attempted. If you can’t see this sickening soiree as an unprecedented Consitutional violation, and an open invitation for bribery, you are probably corrupt, too.
And if you bought enough of the peddler-in-chief’s coins, you got a crappy dinner.
“The food sucked,” 25-year-old Nicholas Pinto told CNBC. “Wasn’t given any drinks other than water or Trump’s wine. I don’t drink, so I had water. My glass was only filled once.”
His dad drove him to the dinner in his Lamborghini, and he didn’t even get a photo opp with the president.
“He didn’t talk to any of the 220 guests — maybe the top 25,” Pinto said.
During dessert, Sun toasted Trump and other attendees, declaring a new dawn for the crypto industry, Wired reported.
“I appreciate like everything the Trump administration done for our industry,” he said.
And he’s only getting started.
Another crypto klepto convicted
Braden John Karony, the CEO of SafeMoon, an ironically dubbed crypto scam, faces 45 years in prison after a federal jury on Wednesday convicted him for conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
Somehow, SafeMoon’s market capitalization grew to more than $8 billion, and Karony and his co-conspirators misappropriated millions for themselves. Karony “lined the driveways of his million dollar homes with luxury cars,” prosecutors said.
“The SafeMoon digital asset was anything but safe and turned out to be pie in the sky,” said U.S. Attorney Nocella in a press release.
Karony joins a growing list of convicted fraudsters in the crypto world.
Last week, Cred CEO Daniel Schatt and CFO Joseph Podulka admitted to misleading customers about the firm’s financial troubles and pleaded guilty to wire fraud connected to the company’s collapse – which cost customers more than $783 million.
A week earlier, Alex Mashinsky, 59, CEO of crypto banker Celsius Network was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud and market manipulation.
Then there’s FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Terraform Labs founder Do Kwan, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
What all of these convicts have in common is that they devised a sophisticated way to turn your money into their money.
Backing off Boeing
Corporations have all the rights of an individual and a lot more, because it’s often politically unfeasible to prosecute them for crimes.
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges related to its 737 Max jetliner crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and and Ethiopia in 2019. But now it’s getting off easy for the deaths of 346 people.
The Justice Department on Friday confimed that is has reached a deal with the aerospace giant that allows it to avoid criminal prosecution. Under the deal, which still requires court approval, Boeing would set aside $445 million for the crash victims’ families and pay a $487 million fine.
Needless to say victims’ families aren’t pleased.
“The message sent by this action to companies around the country is, don’t worry about making your products safe for your customers,” said Javier de Luis, whose sister, Graziella, died in the Ethiopia crash. “Even if you kill them, just pay a small fine and move on.”
Frye Sale
Please welcome Billy McFarland to the Business Blunders Hall of Shame.
McFarland has been having a Fyre sale, but so far there are no takers. He put the Fyre brand up for sale last month after canceling Fyre 2 – which was his second attempt to throw an overpriced beach party to unwary hedonists with perhaps way too much disposable income.
“After two years of rebuilding FYRE with honesty, creativity, and relentless effort, it’s time to pass the torch,” he wrote on the festival’s Instagram page. “We’re officially putting the FYRE brand up for sale. To the right buyer: the platform is yours. Execute the vision. Make history.”
McFarland often tells people they can make history from his big ideas, but he’s the one who made history … as a shameless huckster.
He sold tickets for thousands of dollars to his now-infamous Fyre Festival of 2017.
Guests paid small fortunes for a luxury music event on a Bahamian island, but they ended up riding in school buses, sleeping on bare mattresses in storm-damaged tents, and eating cheese sandwiches from foam containers.
The best entertainment to come of the fiasco were competing documentaries by Netflix, “FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” and Hulu, “Fyre Fraud.”
McFarland received a six-year prison sentence in 2018 for fraud and still owes millions to his investors and ticket buyers.
“Billy McFarland has shown a disturbing pattern of deception, which resulted in investors and customers losing over $26 million,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman following McFarland’s sentence. “Empty promises don’t lead to jet-setting, champagne, and extravagant parties – they lead to federal prison.”
McFarland was released in 2020, and immediately began promising a redo. He began selling tickets in early 2025 for Fyre 2. He billed it as a three-day event at Isla Mujeres off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, from May 30 through June 2, 2025.
Somehow, there were no sentencing requirements that would have prevented him from selling tickets to another dubious event.
Here’s how McFarland explained his do-over in a press release:
“I’m sure many people think I’m crazy for doing this again. But I feel I’d be crazy not to do it again. After years of reflection and now thoughtful planning, the new team and I have amazing plans for Fyre 2. The adventure seekers who trust the vision and take the leap will make history. Thank you to my partners for the second chance.”
Surprise, surprise – Fyre 2 never happened, but McFarland still thinks his tainted brand still has value – largely because of the films that exposed and ridiculed it.
And not just anyone can buy it. McFarland said the new owner must show “their ability to execute the vision of FYRE in a transparent, grand and expeditious manner …
“The next chapter of FYRE will be bigger, better, and built to last without me at the helm.”
Don’t Miss These Blunders
Not Your Money A New York Real Estate mogul learns a valuable lesson about other people's money
UnitedHealth Scare This Week In Blunders - May 11-17
The $100 Million Pastrami Stock manipulators pulled off a remarkable fraud. Now they're toast.
Behind Business Blunders In a rare podcast appearance, hosts want to know who is the intended audience for Business Blunders, and what is my goal for this publication? Like I know?
‘Banks Are Not Your Friends’ This Week In Blunders – May 4-10
Day Trader Plea Deal Ian G. Bell pleads guilty in hopes of reducing prison time
Lost In Love Top CEOs who kissed away their jobs
Copy, Paste And Profit This Week In Blunders – April 27-May 3
Million-Dollar Baby Kohl's fired CEO Ashley Buchanan for allegedly steering business to his romantic partner
Stop And Steal A Brinks truck spilled $300,000. For dozens of bystanders it was 'finders keepers.' Take this poll. What would you do?
FEMA Fatale This Week In Blunders – April 20-26
JPMorgan Chase On A Chase This Week In Blunders – April 13-19
Ethereum Delirium Two brothers allegedly stole $25 million worth of crypto. Now they claim they should be allowed to keep it
Mars Bars M&Ms maker allegedly gets Twixt out of millions
Losing $8 Billion In A Dollar Store Money doesn't grow on Dollar Tree
The Idiot Economy Wall Street luminaries finally realize that they put buffoons in charge of the global economy
Peter Principal This Week In Blunders – March 30-April 6
Big Law Squeals Like A Pig Allegedly high-powered law firms prove they can't even defend themselves
JPMorgan Chumps A young fraudster duped the nation's largest bank out of $175 million. Now she doesn't want to wear her ankle bracelet
Loan Sharks, How Cliché This Week In Blunders – March 23-29
Bankrupt Barbie 23andMe's CEO Anne Wojcicki resigns as DNA testing company files Chapter 11
Send Musk To Mars This Week In Blunders – March 16-22
Netflop Somehow the streaming-video giant blew $55 million on a whack-job director
Slumlord Award This Week In Blunders – March 9-15
Getting The Lead Out Magellan executives lied about their blood-testing devices, putting thousands of lead-poisoning victims at risk
Suck-Up Sam This Week In Blunders - March 2-8
Aloha Suckers Another bankster holiday is in the making because Americans never learn
Croaking At Kroger Whatever this grocery giant's CEO did, it's costing him millions
A Bloody Mess This Week In Blunders - Feb. 23-March 1
Peddling his crap to the American people like one big infomercial. SMH.