Half-million Dollar Fake Charity Concert Benefited No One

by Gary Snyder

He drew support from activists and celebrities, notably Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.

But in the end, he was caught faking a charity concert while bilking investors out of a half million dollars. Kasey Anderson has been caught bilking 30 investors in a non-existent benefit album for the “West Memphis Three.” 

He has since admitted to the benefit fraud and was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for the $586,000 theft. 

Writing the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. Friedman said the more recent cons – Anderson lied about his aging father to beg for money – call into question Anderson’s willingness to change.

“Time and again, Anderson faced a choice of what to do,” Friedman told the court. “And, time and again, Anderson chose to lie to friends and other victims who had trusted him with their money.”

Anderson also solicited investors for a series of fake enterprises. Among those was a benefit concert for the West Memphis Three – men convicted in 1994 of killing three boys in the Arkansas city, who were released from prison after evidence cast doubt on their guilt. The men were convicted after prosecutors claimed the boys were killed as part of a satanic ritual. (source)

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