Fraud Alert: Mardi Gras Krewe Accused of Being a “Total Scam”

A Mardi Gras Krewe in New Orleans is in hot water with the entirety of Louisiana, after being exposed for using the cultural celebration as a grift. The head of New Orleans' City Council is sounding the alarm on the Mystic Kings Krewe, calling it "the future Fyre Fest of New Orleans."

Now, the entire state of Louisiana has its eyes on New Orleans to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

A Mardi Gras Krew, Minus the Mardi Gras Part

The Mystic Kings Krewe was put on blast by Jean-Paul Morrell, New Orleans City councilmember-at-large, in a 10-minute video posted to his Facebook. In the video, JP gives the disclaimer that he had been on the other side of the courtroom in one of are many fraud cases that the man behind the Mystic Kings Krewe has found himself caught in.

Mystic Kings Krewe might be a real organization, and even have a proclamation in their name from New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, but JP makes clear the krewe is not officially recognized by the City of New Orleans, the first sign of something fishy. On top of not being a real Krewe, the City has a waiting list of groups who've applied to be a recognized Krewe, which Mystic Kings hasn't even applied for.

Lies About Art, Unsafe Routes, and a History of Fraud

The NOLA City Councilmember took it a step further and created documents with proof that the floats and decorations Mystic Kings advertises as being original works of art for their parade are reused from previous parade floats. One page of the document details how the internet caught on to the lies before anyone else did, when the Mystic Kings posted a photo of Greek column props that prop makers identified as being made for a movie years ago, not for the parade.

One of the float props advertised by Mystic Kings is a sculpture of a sun many online immediately recognized as having been part of the Krewe of Rex's parade prior. It's not known one way or another if these photos indicate Mystic Kings bought these props, recreated and copied them, or are just lying about having them.

Not just is Mystic Kings lying about where their props comes from, but they are claiming to have a parade route that JP says is"completely insane, unworkable, and will never happen." The entire parade route boxes in the French Quarter, which JP points out would be not just unsafe but annoying for everyone, especially when the Mystic Kings want to run their parade early in January, outside of Mardi Gras season.

The real fraud accusations come together when you realize that the Mystic Kings Krewe is offering memberships on their website, an associate membership with annual dues of $500, or a charter membership, which they say gets you a spot on the floats for $2,000 a year. With so much evidence stacked against the organization it's sadening to hear JP confirm at least 35 people have already paid $2,000 to the group.

JP details that the man behind Mystic Kings is a convicted fraudster and in the past, was once caught up in a scandal with a Mardi Gras group, the Order of Athena. Cecil Roebuck, the man behind Mystic Kings, was hired to build 9 floats for the Order of Athena in Mobile, Alabama, and just weeks out from their parade, they discovered he had left the floats unfinished and unsafe, with Cecil already moved on.

Because the parade has yet to happen, and plans for the group still seem vague, there is no legal action has been taken against the group at this time. Maybe they really could get approval from the city for everything they promised, but as Councilmember Jean-Paul Morrell points out, there's too much evidence, from an unrealistic parade route, the estimated cost of such a big production, and the lack of official recognition for the Mystic Kings Krewe not to be a scam.