Nevada reviewing alleged campaign illegalities by marijuana MSO MedMen

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The Nevada secretary of state’s office is reviewing allegations made by a former MedMen Enterprises executive that the cannabis company’s co-founders made illegal campaign donations to Democratic Gov. Steve Sioslak.

The allegations by former MedMen Chief Financial Officer James Parker were contained in a January 2019 lawsuit filed in California and were made public by Politico.

Wayne Thorley, deputy secretary of state for elections, wrote in an email that the office “only recently became aware of the allegations” and his office was reviewing them.

Sisolak’s office and Los Angeles-based MedMen did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Parker alleged in the lawsuit that MedMen board member Adam Bierman, the multistate operator’s co-founder and former CEO, gave the maximum $10,000 campaign donation allowed by law to a Nevada politician who is not named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges Bierman illegally forced Parker to make a similar donation and that company funds were illegally used to buy furniture for MedMen co-founder and executive Andrew Modlin in order to reimburse Modlin for a similar campaign donation made in his name.

State campaign finance records show that Sisolak was the only Nevada politician who received the maximum donation from the three. State campaign finance records show Bierman, Modlin and Parker each gave $10,000 to Sisolak in October 2018, when he was running for governor.

That same month, Sisolak, then serving as chair of the Clark County Commission, attended the opening of a MedMen store in Las Vegas, presented a placard to Bierman and Modlin and declared it “MedMen Day.”

The state Republican Party on Tuesday called for Sisolak to return the donations and for Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, to investigate.

A spokesperson for Ford said, “As is our office’s normal practice, any complaint we receive will be sent to the appropriate personnel for review and consideration.”

The campaign donation accusations are among a list of allegations Parker detailed in his lawsuit.

Los Angeles-based MedMen has filed a countersuit against Parker, accusing him of breach of contract and other allegations, Politico reported.

– Associated Press