Colorado’s legal pot industry is still considered relatively green (pun intended), but, like most lucrative industries, it’s already seen its fair share of foul play. None bigger, perhaps, than in the case of one Scott Pack, a cannabis entrepreneur who is currently under investigation for what one attorney calls “the largest fraud case in the history of Colorado’s marijuana industry.”
Inside The Largest Marijuana Fraud Case In Colorado History
Pack’s story serves as a cautionary tales of sorts for those looking to invest in Colorado’s burgeoning legal cannabis industry.
Scott Pack’s legal woes began in April, after two investors, Pierre and Christophe Raygot, claimed they were coaxed out of a cool $500,000 by Pack, his father, Michael, and Rudy Saenz, a hedge fund manager at Pack’s company Harmony & Green.
The incident first occurred back in 2015, when non-Colorado residents were not permitted to put their money into cannabis businesses (the law was changed the following year). The Raygots are both foreign nationals, with Pierre hailing from Thailand and Christophe, from Portugal. They thought Pack could help them get in on the business from the ground up, despite not being Colorado residents.
The Raygots’ current lawyer, Henry Baskerville, contends the duo was misled by Pack and his investment team.
“At the time, Pierre could not invest directly in a marijuana business,” Baskerville said in an interview with Westword. “So it was represented to him that the legal way he could still participate in the industry was to invest in a company that would eventually own or manage properties in which a grow would operate. But he was given some conflicting information about what the structure would be, which is what we’ve tried to convey in the second amended complaint.”
Baskerville noted there were several statements made by Pack regarding his business that they believe were just outright lies. Specifically, where the money was going, the valuation of Harmony & Green and the claim that Pack was raising money for a new grow facility, which never actually came to fruition.
“There were a number of times Scott represented over Facebook Messenger that they were obtaining new grows and looking for money to purchase a new facility—but it appears that those representations were not true,” Baskerville claimed. “From what we’ve been able to gather so far, it appears that the money was funneled directly into the marijuana business, and we believe it was used to repay other investors or funneled into the Packs’ pockets.”
The duo has since filed a new suit, which, according to Baskerville, “provides more details about what we believe to be false statements made to our clients.”
“There’s a back-and-forth where Scott said they received $5 million in funding. We think that’s false, too. And there’s a long, detailed Facebook conversation where Scott said they needed a bridge loan of $400,000 because they had the opportunity to purchase a property for $1.6 million,” Baskerville said. “Scott said they only needed the money for 30 to 90 days, and because they’d be getting a mid-month cash infusion of $500,000, the risk would be virtually nothing. But as far as we can tell, that was completely made up.”
Final Hit: Inside The Largest Marijuana Fraud Case In Colorado History
While Pack has maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal, Harmony & Green’s official website contends otherwise.
In a post that has since been taken down, an anonymous author gave its clients an honest, and frankly, blunt apology regarding its embattled CEO.
“Harmony & Green’s former employees would like to offer a public apology to the company’s investors and their families. You were defrauded by the CEO, Scott Pack, and his partner, Rudy Saenz,” the post said. “You have been disregarded, lied to and kept in the dark. So were we. You deserved better. You are good people who trusted in a vision that was peddled to you by people who never had any intention of living up to its lofty idealism.”
The unnamed apologist also claimed that Harmony & Green’s employees were just as naive to the scheme as it’s investors.
“We are sorry. You deserved better. You were played. So were we.”
