The new lawsuit charges that several property transfers are tantamount to fraud and theft.
One of three co-owners of a Colorado marijuana chain filed a new lawsuit in an eight-year legal fight over both the fate of the company and who will get paid how much. The latest filing targets one of his former partners with allegations of attempted theft and fraud.
Josh Ginsberg, one of the founders of Colorado-based Native Roots, filed the 52-page lawsuit last month in an attempt to force another of the original owners – real estate mogul Peter Knobel – to pay him and the third owner, Rhett Jordan, a court-ordered award of more than $170 million, BusinessDen reported.
Ginsberg’s new suit – which also names Knobel’s wife, real estate firm Brightstar and 53 other companies purportedly owned by Knobel as defendants – claims that Knobel deliberately transferred a number of assets to Brightstar in an effort to avoid paying an arbitrator’s award, now worth more than $170 million , to Ginsberg and Jordan.
The award stemmed from the original Native Roots ownership dispute, which was thrown out in 2022 before being reinstated last year, in a legal battle which dates back to 2017 . That case is still pending before the Colorado State Supreme Court.
Knobel allegedly transferred ownership of 11 Native Roots properties to a new entity he created called Halcyon Lending after the judgment against him and Brightstar was reaffirmed last year, according to Ginsberg’s new lawsuit. Knobel’s goal, Ginsberg claimed in the new suit, was “to deplete Brightstar before (Ginsberg) and Jordan can collect,” BusinessDen reported.
The properties transferred included Native Roots’ corporate headquarters in Denver, along with 10 dispensaries scattered around Colorado, and all were transferred within a few weeks of the state Court of Appeals reinstating the arbitrator’s $170 million award, Ginsberg’s new suit asserts.
The new lawsuit charges that the property transfers are tantamount to fraud and theft.
All parties declined to comment to BusinessDen.Ginsberg’s new suit asks an Eagle County judge to block any additional asset transfers from Brightstar to any other business entity.“Defendants’ past behavior makes clear that they will stop at nothing […]
Colorado cannabis chain ownership court battle expands into second lawsuit
