A former professional for , Chicago-based Verano, one of the largest hemp firms in , the United States, was legally indicted on charges of insider trading.
The prosecution Thursday accused , Anthony Marsico, 39, of , Bartlett, Illinois, of using personal information to make an improper profit of about$ 607, 000 by buying property in another pot company that Verano planned to get.
The offer to buy , Minneapolis-based , Goodness Growth Holdings Inc., now named  , Vireo Growth Inc., fell through. The two businesses continue to fight in court over the unsuccessful offer.
Marsico’s doctors,  , Todd Pugh , and , Patrick Blegen, told the Tribune their buyer was innocent of the charges.
” Mr. Marsico had a long-term and well-documented story of investing in the hemp related financial business”, the lawyers said in a statement. ” Our research shows that Mr. Marsico’s purchase engagement was based only on people and non-proprietary knowledge”.
According to the indictment, Marsico and three of his golfing buddies from a secret country club, where they allegedly forged the plan, were also indicted.
The other plaintiffs were named as economic adviser , Arthur Pizzello, Jr., 61, of suburban , Wayne , and of , Marco Island, Florida,  , Robert Quattrocchi, 63, of , Schaumburg, and , Timothy Carey, 57, of , Hanover Park. Pizzello co-owned the country team, was a financial adviser who surrendered his license, government stated, is an area vice president at a officially traded insurance agent and human resource gains firm, and co-owns a management consulting firm based in , Carmel, Indiana. Pizzello also invested in Verano through a “friends and family” offering before its initial public offering in 2021, according to a , Securities and Exchange Commission  , filing.
The friends regularly called and texted each other, and golfed, gambled and socialized together, the filing stated.
According to the indictment, Marsico co-owned a predecessor company that was acquired by Verano in 2018, and was executive vice president at Verano. He was in charge of municipal government relations and real estate, including obtaining approvals to open cannabis dispensaries.
The defendants hatched the scheme in December of 2021, after Marsico learned Verano was trying to acquire , Goodness Growth, the indictment stated.
Marsico opened and funded a brokerage account and bought more than 900, 000 shares of , Goodness Growth , stock in 359 separate transactions for a total of approximately$ 1.5 million in the Canadian over-the-counter market, prosecutors alleged.
The acquisition was publicly announced on , Feb. 1, 2022. Goodness Growth’s share price that day “skyrocketed” to about$ 2.34, representing a 42 % increase.
Marsico made profits of more than$ 607, 000, according to the indictment, which the government wants to recoup.
In a statement, Verano stated that the acquisition agreement is finalized in October 2022 and that it complies with all securities laws.
The Verano statement read in part as” We strongly condemn the alleged actions taken by a former employee, and we have fully cooperated with authorities investigating this matter.”
The former employee’s alleged actions, which were terminated a year ago, had no significant impact on our business and had no impact on our operations going forward.
Verano owns 14 cultivation facilities nationwide, with more than 120 stores and 4, 000 employees. Vireo operates retail dispensaries and marijuana-growing facilities in , New York,  , Minnesota , and , New Mexico.
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