Harvest Farm Group was a fictional cannabis industry entity established as part of a three-year scam. The perpetrator, Mark Roy Anderson – a repeat con artist and disbarred attorney who had recently been released from prison[1] – was charged by the US government with multiple counts of wire fraud. He was indicted by a grand jury in May 2023[2][3] and pled guilty to fraud, amounting to over $18 million in a federal court in April 2024.[4][5]
References
edit- ^ Palmer, Emily (April 8, 2024). "Calif. Con Artist Bilked $18 Million Out of His Victims By Peddling Fake Cannabis Businesses". People. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ Finnegan, Michael (May 23, 2023). "Fresh out of prison, Beverly Hills con artist launches $9-million hemp scam, FBI says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "Felon charged with duping investors out of $9M for fake hemp farm". KTTV. May 23, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "A convicted Southern California con artist pleads guilty in an $18 million cannabis scam". Associated Press. April 7, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ Adams, Benjamin M. (April 11, 2024). "Con Artist Invented Fictional Pot Businesses, Hemp Farm To Scam Over $18M". High Times. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
Further reading
edit- "Beverly Hills Man Finishing Federal Sentence in Fraud Case Indicted in New Alleged $9 Million Scam for Investments in Fake Hemp Farm" (Press release). U.S. Justice Department U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California. May 23, 2023.
- Colin Crabbe (January 25, 2024). "Fraudster To Plead Guilty In $18M Hemp Farm, CBD Scam". Law360. LexisNexis.
External links
edit- Harvest Farm Group hoax website (archived)