The brothers behind a collapsed $800 million occasions start-up have been uncovered for operating over-16 membership nights within the UK the place medication together with MDMA have been utilized by kids as younger as 14.
The Let’s Go Loopy (LGC) youth membership evening was marketed as a secure evening out for teenagers in venues throughout London between 2008 and 2012, however an investigation has revealed drug use by younger attendees.
An LGC occasion at The Coronet in south London in 2012 was discovered to have a lot of the two,400 youngsters there supplying and taking exhausting medication.
The membership nights have been run by Callum and Liam Negus-Fancey, whose multi-million greenback advertising and marketing agency Pollen went bust seemingly in a single day in August, owing thousands and thousands to distributors and clients in unpaid refunds.
Callum (proper) and Liam (left) Negus-Fancey, aged 32 and 29 respectively, noticed their $800 million advertising and marketing start-up go bust earlier this yr
The Let’s Go Loopy Membership Night time was marketed as a secure evening out for youngsters in London
The brothers’ peer-to-peer advertising and marketing agency StreetTeam, Pollen’s mum or dad firm, appeared to go from power to power – thanks partially to a money injection from the UK authorities’s Future Fund, supported by British taxpayers.
By 2020, they weren’t solely promoting tickets to different festivals however placing on their very own occasions at big-name venues just like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort in Mexico.
By 2022, the Negus-Fancey brothers had raised greater than $200million from enterprise capitalists, however the enterprise immediately collapsed earlier this yr.
The brothers have been embroiled in one other scandal in 2012 after an undercover BBC investigation into the LGC membership nights uncovered drug-taking by youngsters.
LGC organisers introduced two days earlier than the occasion that safety can be tighter than traditional.
When a BBC journalist requested a promoter why, they responded: ‘Are you able to think about how many individuals shall be on medication!
‘Additionally should you want any you may get inside, as a result of inside there shall be loads of ppl with medication haha.’
Filming from exterior the venue additionally confirmed stewards with LGC ID playing cards telling children who admitted to having MDMA to ‘eliminate it’ as the teenagers stated they have been frightened about getting caught by the police.
(Inventory Picture) Round 2,400 folks turned as much as the youth evening out in 2012 the place medication have been being taken by teenagers
Singer Justin Bieber performs at XS Nightclub as a part of a 3 day expertise by Pollen in 2021
By 2022, the Negus-Fancey brothers had raised greater than $200million from enterprise capitalists (pictured The Vamps acting at a Pollen occasion)
Residence Workplace tips say these discovered to have medication must be refused entry to a venue, or police must be referred to as.
When The Coronet was contacted in regards to the incident on the time, it stated the stewards’ actions have been ‘inadequate and insufficient’.
LGC responded that its workers didn’t have the authorized proper to look anybody.
Undercover journalists additionally spoke to a 15 year-old lady who stated she had taken medication.
She stated: ‘My dad, he thinks I am at a celebration. He thinks it is for charity so I stated I would like extra cash, so technically he simply purchased me MD.’
The investigation revealed no less than 21 teenagers speaking about medication on the sold-out occasion in London, 16 of whom stated they’d taken medication, whereas 4 admitted to being 14 or 15.
The Coronet and LGC each insisted that they haven’t damaged the regulation.
LGC consultant James Beaumont stated: ‘We deal with all allegations of substance abuse critically and we’ll examine totally what occurred to make sure any points are resolved earlier than one other occasion takes place.’
Whereas a spokesperson for The Coronet stated: ‘We’ve a zero tolerance in the direction of medication and have a “no search no entry” coverage.’
