SEC Charges Marijuana-Container Company With Illegal Stock Sales

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It’s a new kind of pot bust.

The Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed criminal and civil charges against two Colorado men who allegedly reaped more than $12 million from selling bogus stock linked to a hydroponic marijuana firm.

The men, William Sears and Scott Dittman, used false financial filings and bogus letters from a lawyer to prop up FusionPharm Inc., inflating sales of refurbished shipping containers called PharmPods that are designed for growing pot indoors, the SEC said in a statement on Friday.

The case in Denver federal court comes as Colorado’s pot industry has grown in value to $1 billion since voters legalized marijuana retail sales in 2012. While the sales generated more than $100 million in much-needed tax revenue last year, the freewheeling industry has also triggered unforeseen...

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