“We had no involvement in operating the business or the conception or execution of the Fyre Festival,” the spokesman said, adding they “unequivocally disavow the handling of the situation in the strongest possible terms.”

The suit explains that “Seed Series” investors normally have active “roles, involvement and control over the new company,” saying they are under investigation and will be named as defendants in the $100 million action if they are found to have been “aiding and abetting.”

Though this is the first lawsuit to liken Fyre to a Ponzi scheme, it is not the only one to accuse its organisers of negligence.

The company has been hit by suits from a Pennsylvania-based company hired to provide on-site medical care; New Jersey resident Andrew Petrozziello, who paid $1,100 for a ticket but was stranded in Miami when the event was “postponed”; and a $5 million class action lawsuit filed last week in Florida.

Mr McFarland and Ja Rule have apologised for the chaos.

“The team was overwhelmed,” they wrote on the website for the festival.

“The airport was jam packed. The buses couldn’t handle the load. And the wind from rough weather took down half of the tents on the morning our guests were scheduled to arrive.