A handful of CBD and cannabis companies turned out to be figments of the imagination as a con artist successfully duped investor after investor, but his conning spree has come to an end.

A California man pleaded guilty April 5 to a slew of federal criminal charges for swindling investors out of $18.4 million. He conned several investors—all as he was already completing a sentence for prior criminal charges—by inventing companies that he claimed invested in hemp farms and cannabis-infused retail products. He also claimed to run a sham bottling business for CBD-infused products. The bogus businesses turned out to quickly fall apart.

People magazine reports that Mark Roy Anderson, 69, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.

Anderson took the plea agreement, and admitted to engaging in two separate schemes that swindled investors. His scheme kicked off right after he was released from federal prison while he was on home confinement and supervised release. Police say Anderson has been conning people since the 1990s but moved into the cannabis sector where there was a lot of loot to be gained.

From June 2020 to April 2021, Anderson convinced investors to fund his company Harvest Farm Group, to harvest and process hemp grown on his farm into medical-grade CBD isolate. 

“Anderson convinced investors to invest in Harvest Farm Group by falsely representing that, through the company, he owned and operated a hemp farm in Kern County,” the report reads. “He also lied that had already completed successful and profitable harvests of hemp from the farm. He also falsely said he was using his own machinery and equipment to convert the hemp into CBD isolate and Delta 8, a psychoactive substance that, like CBD isolate, could be used in consumer products ranging from olive oil to body cream.”

Anderson weaseled his way out of skeptical investors and claimed that past fraud convictions were not in fact him. When investors demanded money, Anderson falsely told them that sales of products derived from hemp grown at the farm had been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In another scheme, which ran from April 2021 to May 2023, Anderson duped investors by soliciting money for Bio Pharma and Verta Bottling—two more sham companies—by claiming that these businesses successfully manufactured, bottled, and packaged commercial products.

Specifically, he claimed Bio Pharma manufactured and sold infused products such as CBD-infused avocado oil, olive oil, pain cream, gummies, tequila, and chili oil. Anderson also claimed that Verta Bottling manufactured and sold beverages and a variety of food products.

“Anderson falsely stated that his bottling companies owned and possessed millions of dollars’ worth of assets, including—in Bio Pharma’s case—hemp biomass, CBD isolate, CBD oil, and—in Verta Bottling’s case—manufacturing equipment and an assignable lease for a warehouse to manufacture and sell its products,” the announcement reads.

How did he do this? Anderson carefully fabricated fake legal and business documents, which included fake purchase order contracts that he claimed showed agreements with third-party companies to purchase tens of millions of dollars’ worth of products manufactured by his bottling companies. Anderson also provided victims with fake samples of products he claimed that he manufactured by his bottling companies.

Investors have been warned about bogus cannabis companies before.

In 2019, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin issued a warning to potential cannabis industry investors to be wary of scams and unscrupulous operators after filing fraud charges against two entrepreneurs in the state. In an alert released by Galvin’s office, the secretary urged investors to approach offers for unregistered securities from unlicensed sellers with caution, noting that the cannabis industry is not monitored by federal regulators or state-chartered banks.

“No one regulator can police this marketplace,” Galvin said in the statement. “My Securities Division intends to scrutinize these offerings to proactively prevent investor harm.”

Celebrities like Tom Hanks and Sacha Baron Cohen have been targets of fake CBD or cannabis companies, sometimes in the form of fake endorsements or misuse of their likenesses. Sacha Baron Cohen’s massive $9 million lawsuit was filed against a dispensary that ran a billboard ad with his image without permission, but the actor and plaintiff have reached an agreement to drop the lawsuit.

According to court documents filed on July 12, 2021, Sacha Baron Cohen filed a $9 million lawsuit against Somerset, Massachusetts-based Solar Therapeutics, a dispensary, for running a billboard ad with his image without his permission.

Solar Therapeutics erected a billboard on an interstate highway in Massachusetts that features a picture of Baron Cohen as Borat, with his thumbs up and the words “It’s Nice!,” one of Borat’s catchphrases.

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Last year, High Times covered Sacha Baron Cohen’s massive $9 million lawsuit filed against a dispensary that ran a billboard ad with his image without permission, but the actor and plaintiff have reached an agreement to drop the lawsuit.

CBS News reports that a document filed in Boston federal court on Tuesday said “the two sides have agreed to dismiss the case.”

According to court documents filed on July 12, 2021, Sacha Baron Cohen filed a $9 million lawsuit against Somerset, Massachusetts-based Solar Therapeutics, a dispensary, for running a billboard ad with his image without his permission.

Solar Therapeutics erected a billboard on an interstate highway in Massachusetts that features a picture of Baron Cohen as Borat, with his thumbs up and the words “It’s Nice!,” one of Borat’s catchphrases. It also read “Happy 4/20!” The billboard appeared in Somerset near exit 10B.

“By use of the billboard, the defendants falsely have conveyed to the public that Mr. Baron Cohen has endorsed their products and is affiliated with their business,” the 2021 complaint reads. “To the contrary, Mr. Baron Cohen never has used cannabis in his life. He never would participate in an advertising campaign for cannabis, for any amount of money.”

It continues, “In addition, Mr. Baron Cohen was born into an Orthodox Jewish family; he is an Observant Jew; and he is proud of his cultural heritage. He does not wish to be involved in the heated controversy among the Orthodox Jewish community about whether cannabis can be used under Jewish traditions, customs, and rules—a controversy in which many rabbinical leaders have stated that cannabis use is a violation of Jewish law.”

Baron Cohen and his California-based company Please You Can Touch LLC originally were seeking $9 million in damages for the misuse of his image.

While Baron Cohen, Please You Can Touch LLC, and Solar Therapeutics reached an agreement, it is not being made public whether or not a settlement was involved. It may signal a symbolic warning not to use the intellectual property of Baron Cohen improperly without a fight.

The misuse of celebrities to sell cannabis is an ongoing problem. Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, and Montel Williams—who has a legit cannabis company—have all fallen victim to CBD and cannabis scams that claim to be endorsed by celebrities.

Yes, We’ve Interviewed Sacha Baron Cohen

If you’re scratching your head, we understand. Baron Cohen has joked many times about cannabis, usually as the character Ali G. But the lawsuit clearly states that he hasn’t ever actually smoked cannabis in his life.

Baron Cohen interviewed with Dan Skye for High Times for the October 2003 cover of the magazine—but interviewed as Ali G, his fictional stoner character, not himself. The new lawsuit explains why Baron Cohen openly jokes about cannabis, but does not consume due to his faith.

“Me can role up two spliffs using one hand,” Baron Cohen as Ali G told High Times in 2003. “Dat iz why I iz known as bein double-joined a’ight. From de moment me woz born de chronic has been at de centre of everythin me do—when me mum squeezed me out of her punani me woz cryin so much dat she let me have a drag on her joint. Den three years later me first word woz ‘reefer’.”

“[…] U iz de only mag dat pay in weed,” he said. Ali G then told High Times that his favorite weed is “grown in a small part of Jamaica called Somalia.”

Baron Cohen’s Ali G may be a big pothead, but Baron Cohen plays many characters. And just because he jokes about it, doesn’t mean that he’ll allow a business to steal his image for profits.

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