Category: Teri Buhl – Regulated Cannabis & Hemp Industry Investigative Journalism

Feb. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – Australis Capital Inc. (CSE: AUSA) (OTC: AUSAF) (“AUSA” or the “Company”) previously announced on, December 11, 2019, a proposed merger by and among AUSA, Folium Equity Holding LLC (“Folium”) and Folium Merger Sub, LLC by which Folium would become a wholly owned subsidiary of AUSA, and AUSA would be rebranded as and carry on the business of Folium. AUSA recently discovered new relevant information with regard to Folium and, on that basis, AUSA has decided to not proceed with the merger.

Cannabis farm near Anacortes was center of alleged $4.85 million Ponzi scheme reports the Seattle Times. Surprise surprise look what they’ve been spending other people’s money on, according to the report. “Meanwhile, Russell and his partner, a small-time California film executive named Guy Scott Griffithe, spent $3.5 million of the investors’ money on luxury cars, a 65-foot yacht and other “extravagant luxuries, inappropriate personal expenditures, and unrelated business ventures”

Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 2020 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Guy S. Griffithe and Robert W. Russell, and three companies they controlled, for an alleged scheme that defrauded investors who thought they were purchasing interests in a Washington-licensed recreational cannabis company out of approximately $4.85 million.

Cannabis Law Report is investigating if an executive at a Canadian Cannabis company, that is publicly traded, was involved behind the scenes to help Grizzly Research with their research for the Trulieve short report and there’s also the possibility that capital was provided to set up a short position against Trulieve.

Teri Buhl reports at her publication, “A private text exchange between an Aphria deal lawyer and a member of the board calls into question the accuracy of an regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission about a bid cannabis company Green Growth Brands made to takeover Aphria.”

The interviewer asks about pending lawsuits and Dowty says the board is currently happy with what’s in play. The merger is to happen in February / March but Dowty does say, “Don’t quote me on that.” From his comments in this video it looks like Dowty & team are going to take over the day to day operations of Folium and Shan will be Chairman.

The final part of our 3 part series by Teri Buhl about Colorado CBD outfit Folium Biosciences. The CEO of Folium Biosciences, Kashif Shan, is accused of violating a cease and desist order issued by the Colorado Spring fire department who had attempted to shut down the company’s CBD extraction plant because many regulations and safety codes were being ignored by the company and its senior management team. Brett Lacey, CS Fire Marshall, confirmed for Cannabis Law Report that his staff had tried to serve Shan a summons for a criminal misdemeanor for continuing to extract THC from their industrial hemp when under the C&D order but Shan dodged the summons for a year and the statute of limitations  subsequently ran out.

Teri Buhl writes for Cannabis Law Report, “A real estate entrepreneur from Texas, Robert W. Mertz, is being accused of civil theft and conspiracy for keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars from the sale of unhealthy hemp clones to a Colorado farm and using the money to improve his hemp farm infrastructure so the two year old farm could be flipped and sold. In September, MTN Botanicals, based in Fort Collins Co., sued Mertz, his head grower, head of sales and the company which is known as National Hemp Exchange in Colorado district court in the county of Rio Grande. Since the lawsuit the entire crop of clones sold by National Hemp Exchange, worth around $600,000 resulted in a loss and MTN Botanicals now wants triple damages. The lawsuit accuses Mertz of basically running his hemp farm as a Ponzi scheme.”