A Ponzi-Like Cannabis Mirage
According to the SEC, the fraud ran through Integrated National Resources Inc., operating under the name Weedgenics. The scheme, launched as early as 2023, pitched investors on “nonexistent” cannabis grow facilities, complete with glossy photographs and fabricated financial statements.
“These facilities never belonged to defendants,” the SEC argued. “Their tens of millions in supposed revenues were conjured from thin air.”
A court-appointed receiver reported this week that cooperation from the defendants has been “very limited.” Records were found to be “incomplete, deleted/destroyed, or otherwise non-existent.” Still, investigators clawed back about $8 million in cash and seized 14 luxury vehicles.
Defendants Stay Silent
Williams, representing himself, has refused to engage with the suit. Hirschmann, Delgado, and Campbell invoked their Fifth Amendment rights.
The February phase of the case had already resulted in $38 million in judgments against entity defendants, but this week’s ruling largely closes the chapter on one of the SEC’s most audacious fraud prosecutions in recent memory.
The SEC is represented by Daniel S. Lim, Christopher Anthony Nowlin, and Gary Y. Leung, while Weedgenics’ receiver Krista L. Freitag is represented by attorneys from Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP.
Counsel for several defendants was unavailable. Delgado continues to represent himself.
