Federal securities regulators recently obtained judgments in two enforcement actions brought in federal court in California and Illinois involving cannabis-related businesses raising capital. At a high level, the recent trend we have observed in these recent securities enforcement actions is the general emphasis, as we would expect, on (i) accuracy and completeness of material disclosures to investors, (ii) investor solicitation activities, including use of unregistered broker-dealers by issuers, and (iii) properly conducting compliant securities offerings.   

1. SEC v. Geoffrey J. Thompson, No. 1:20-cv-05205 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 20, 2021)

Geoffrey Thompson, a repeat securities law violator, and his company Covalent Collective, Inc., a supposed cannabis company, allegedly conducted numerous offerings of unregistered securities from 2014 to 2019, ultimately raising more than $19 million from approximately 500 investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged that Thompson diverted over $2.7 million of funds from investors while serving as CEO of Covalent Collective, a Canadian corporation operating out of Longmont, Colorado.

Among other allegations, the SEC alleged that investors were lured in by Covalent’s use of unregistered broker-dealers; an investor relations firm; a call center maintained by Fortress Legacy LLC, another of Thompson’s companies; and other fraudulent investor-facing solicitations, including audio … Keep reading