The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged three Michigan entrepreneurs, Robert Shumake Jr, Willard Jackson, and Nicole Birch, for allegedly selling $2 million worth of unregistered securities through two crowdfunding schemes last month. The federal watchdog claims that the scheme fraudulently offered “opportunities for investors to share in bountiful profits from the cannabis industry, by acquiring real estate and leasing it to companies engaged in the business of growing cannabis”.
Jackson, who was released from his role as head of Ebony Magazine last year amid allegations of financial impropriety, along with Shumake and Birch have each been charged with violating anti-fraud and registration laws. Prosecutors claim that investors in the crowdfunding round have not seen a single penny in return, and instead the money went to the trio’s personal use. The crowdfunding was conducted through a company called TruCrowd which was also charged by the SEC for violating the Securities Act.
According to The Register, the SEC “has asked for financial penalties and injunctions stopping them from serving as corporate officers”. It’s important to note that despite previous allegations and media coverage of previous business endeavours, all defendants in this case remain innocent until the case is tried in federal court.
