‘HIGH-LY’ SUSPECT: LAWSUIT
Gov ‘pushed’ pot buyout
Gov. Hochul’s office pushed to force the bargain-priced buyout of a well-positioned cannabis retailer just days before it was set to wriggle out of the deal — and just days after the lucky buyer attended a fundraiser for her, according to an explosive lawsuit. Hochul’s administration used iminfluence proper last month to help recreational-pot seller Ascend Wellseal ness its $75 million deal to buy the MedMen marijuana dispensary chain, claims the suit filed Monday.
Deal or no deal
MedMen’s lawsuit alleges Hooffice chul’s pushed regulators to OK the deal after dragging their feet for nearly a year — and just days after one of Ascend’s executives attended a Midtown fundraiser for Hochul’s re-election campaign hosted by FeuKulick, erstein a Manhattan-based firm that is reportedly a “major player in the field of cannabis law.” Sources said MedMen appeared to ant out of the deal and its relatively low price — whose terms were set to expire on Jan. 1 — after Hochul took office in August and made remarijuana ail shops a priority. That’s because the potential value of MedMen — one of just 10 dispensaries licensed to sell medical marijuana in the state — likely soared as she accelerated the more cautious pace set by exAndrew Gov. Cuomo after lawmakers legalized pot last spring. The Dec. 8 fundraiser “specifitargeted” cally companies looking to enter New York’s recreational marijuana market, the suit claims.
According to an e-mail obtained by the Albany Times-Union, Feuerstein Kulick attorney Nancy Baynard encouraged attendees to give $10,000 each. Among those who attended the event was Ascend President Andrew Brown, the suit, filed in state Supreme Court, claims.
‘Improper influence’?
On Dec. 10, Hochul’s secretary, Karen Persichilli Keogh, and two other aides — Neysa Alsina and former mayoral hopeful Kathryn Garcia — met with Ascend CEO Abner Kurtin and other company reps, the suit says.
On Dec. 28, Hochul’s new Office of Cannabis Management and its Cannabis Control Board approved the deal.
“The meeting between Ascend CEO Kurtin and senior state executive officials just two days later” and the approval of the transaction shortly afterward “together raise a clear inference of improper influence by Ascend on the state approval process,” MedMen alleges.
On Jan. 2, MedMen told Ascend it was terminating the agreement. MedMen, which is represented by Quinn Emanuel Partner Alex Spiro, is asking a judge to reject Ascend’s request for an injunction preventing MedMen from scrapping the merger.
Ascend said, “MedMen is essentially challenging the regulators’ authority and ignoring the regulations of the state’s medical program.”
A Hochul spokeswoman said, “These allegations are full of falsehoods, including a meeting that never took place.”
The Office of Cannabis Management said it wouldn’t comment “on pending or potential litigation.”