As regular readers will know the incidence of corruption is rising apace and has been highlighted by the recent Giuliani revelations..
Cannabis Now have published an overview of recent developments that’s worth a read if you aren’t up to speed on what’s happening on this front.
Here’s their introduction
The cannabis industry is currently getting a little unwanted publicity, with the indictment of four figures linked to Rudolph Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s controversial lawyer — including on charges of influence-peddling on behalf of cannabis dispensaries.
The first in the recent spate of busts came on Oct. 9, when two Florida-based businessmen who apparently helped Giuliani in his attempt to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine were arrested at Washington’s Dulles International Airport. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman are charged with campaign finance violations, conspiracy and other crimes, including donating foreign money to a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Nevada in an attempt to get selected for a cannabis license.
The next day, Andrey Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested in San Francisco. Another associate in this nexus, David Correia, was picked up by federal agents on Oct. 16 at New York’s JFK airport. The four men were named in a grand jury indictment announced on Oct. 10 by the Southern District of New York.
Officials are charging the four men with making illegal political donations to politicians and candidates at the state and federal level — in a bid to secure their assistance in winning licenses for a cannabis business in California and Nevada. The donations are said to have been underwritten by an unnamed foreign national.
Altogether, the recent indictments illustrate how a restricted cannabis industry — with high start-up costs, intense pressure to get a “first-mover advantage” and limited licenses — gives plenty of encouragement to bad actors to try and get a leg up.
