Oregon Marijuana Businesswoman Fined $40k for Fraud

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An Oregon medical cannabis dispensary owner has been fined $40,000 by state regulators after they concluded she defrauded investors.

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services last week found that Tisha Siler, the CEO of Cannacea, was guilty of investment fraud, the Oregonian reported. The allegations, first reported last month, could be the first-ever case of a licensed cannabis businessperson being penalized for such a crime.

The agency found that Siler lied to investors when she claimed that state regulators had “personally invited” her to open dispensaries, that she had already gotten the green light on six storefronts “with limited red tape,” and that she would have influence over state rules for the coming recreational cannabis industry. That deceit led four investors to put up a total of $225,000 in Cannacea.

The agency also issued a cease-and-desist order against Green Rush Consulting, a California company that unknowingly helped Siler pull off her scam, and fined it $20,000 but suspended $12,500 of the fine. Green Rush, the state said, failed to verify the authenticity of a fake letter that Siler generated in order to dupe investors, or information that was in Cannacea investor materials, the Oregonian reported.

Green Rush can perform consulting work in Oregon, but not any business activity connected to securities in the state without formal approval from the Department of Consumer and Business Services.