Two Indicted Over Multi-Million Dollar Cannabis Ponzi Scheme

May 19th | Lukas Barfield

An Illinois woman and a Georgia man were indicted for running an alleged Ponzi scheme that involved fake cattle trades and a Colorado cannabis business, DTN.com reports.

Reva Joyce Stachniwand and Ron Throgmartin were each charged with federal wire fraud and conspiracy by the Department of Justice last week, while a third person, Mark Ray, who owned Colorado-based Universal Herbs LLC, was charged in federal court in February 2020 for his part in the conspiracy.

Using the made-up cattle trading company MR Cattle Production Services LLC, the three were accused of defrauding investors of over $650 million between 2017 and 2019. The charges grew from a civil complaint issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the 2019 SEC complaint, Ray is accused of selling unregulated securities related to a cattle company and his cannabis company as far back as 2014.

Two Indicted Over Multi-Million Dollar Cannabis Ponzi Scheme

Two Indicted Over Multi-Million Dollar Cannabis Ponzi Scheme