Hunter
09/03/22
The two leaders of GO Cedar Rapids, which put on the failed Newbo Evolve festival in 2018, are to be sentenced later this year for bank fraud.
The Gazette reports that finance director Doug Hargrave will learn his fate November 4th, and President/CEO Aaron McCreight on November 10th.
McCreight is currently tourism president and CEO for Dothan, Alabama. He reportedly admitted to defrauding Banker’s Trust by grossly overstating the number of advance tickets sold to concerts with Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson, and the amount of corporate sponsorship for the event. Those fraudulent figures were submitted to Banker’s Trust to get an increase in their loan.
The event lost $2.3 million. GO Cedar Rapids couldn’t make good on the $800,000 promised to vendors or the loans. Banker’s trust fired its local president shortly after the fraud was discovered.
Hargrave and McCreight pleaded guilty in January and could each get up to 30 years at sentencing. They also face a fine of up to $1 million and up to five years of supervised release. Restitution is to be determined at sentencing.