Text maniac Dietl blows %@#in’ top
MAYORAL candidate Bo Dietl works as a consultant for a marijuana lab testing company which has been under investigation by the feds on stock fraud allegations, the Daily News has learned.
Dietl, 66, a high-profile private investigator and Fox News pundit, has been working as a consultant for Digipath Inc. since March.
Digipath is one of a family of companies linked to investor David Weiner that has been the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission and FBI investigation beginning in 2014.
The existence of the investigation was disclosed in a deposition in a personal injury lawsuit filed last year by R.J. Cipriani against Weiner, records obtained by the News show.
Cipriani, a professional gambler who uses the moniker Robin Hood 702, sued after he hurt himself at Weiner’s home. During the deposition he was asked what he was doing at the house. He disclosed that he was working as a confidential source for the FBI.
“I was trying to gather information for the FBI and SEC,” Cipriani replied, according to the deposition in the lawsuit which was settled.
Dietl told The News he doesn’t know about the investigation. He claimed he hasn’t “made a dime” from the company since he was hired, and his role is simply to consult on regulation of the marijuana industry.
“I was never aware of any investigation,” he said Monday.
“I thought it was a very reputable company. If it turns out there is any credence to the allegations, I would resign.”
But Cipriani says he personally told Dietl of the existence of the investigation, which is still ongoing. “When I learned he had been hired, I called him and told him about it,” Cipriani said. Cipriani previously called Dietl at Weiner’s request to offer him a spot on the board of directors. Dietl asked for $15,000 a month and he never ended up serving on the board, Cipriani said. He questioned Dietl’s claim that he simply consults on regulations. “He’s there to protect them from bad publicity, and to get whatever high-profile dollar guys to invest in the company,” Cipriani said. “He’s also there for his investigative skills to go after people that are trying to take down the company for its pump-and-dump history.” Later Monday, Dietl categorically denied all of that and again insisted he had no idea about any investigation. He said he has only gotten restricted stock, but no cash for his work.
“I am sure there is no investigation going on,” Digipath CEO Joseph Bianco said. “I don’t believe there was any investigation. Since then, all we’ve been doing is good business.” Weiner did not return phone messages.
The SEC declined to comment, and the FBI did not respond to a request for comment.
From a high of $17 a share, Digipath stock now sits at 20 cents a share.
In April 2014, the SEC ordered trading in stock from Digipath’s sister company Growlife halted just before a major stock sale.
“Questions . . . have been raised about the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace and potentially manipulative transactions in the common stock,” the SEC said at the time. BO DIETL DOESN’T handle rejection well, obscene text messages show.
The chairman of the Staten Island Reform Party, Frank Morano, was subjected to Dietl’s foul-fingered fury after the party decided to endorse Sal Albanese over Dietl for mayor, according to a screenshot of the messages.
“I was very disappointed at Bo’s response and completely taken aback,” said Morano, who is also a radio host on AM 970. “Bo, while I know he’s a gruff New Yorker and a guy who shoots from the hip a lot of the time, always struck me as a gentleman.”
In the exchange, Dietl called Morano a “lying worm” who had “f---ed” him “with Curtis,” referring to Curtis Sliwa, the state chair of the party.
When Morano wished him “the best of luck,” Dietl shot back, “F--- off p----” and urged him to “find a can of Man.”
Unsurprisingly, the exchange did not make Morano more likely to support Dietl.
“I thought it raised more questions about his temperament to be mayor than anything else,” Morano said.
Dietl doubled down on Twitter. “Now you tell me what kind of person makes private texts public?!” he tweeted. “@frankmorano is a liar and clearly is what I called him in private.”