Below Mickey Martin gives us a closer look into the Oakland Cannabiz
SHELL GAMES: How applicants in Oakland are getting over on the system.
Posted by Mickey Martin
Step right up, folks! Hurry! Hurry! Do I have an opportunity for you…
The essence of a shell game is based in the illusion that the sucker being duped by the Shell Man actually is participating in an honest game. The reality is that in any skilled shell game, there is no pea under any of the shells; and the other people there, betting along with you to make you feel like you are not the only dummy, are likely shills working with the Shell Man to get your money.
In this case the dummy is the City of Oakland and the Shell Men (and women) are the applicants vying for the four medical cannabis dispensary permits. After reviewing the applications for these folks it has become clear that the folks listed on these applications are actually the shills for some very familiar and well-connected Shell Men in Oakland.
The problem is that in the real world a shell game is nothing more than fraud, and the actions being perpetrated by the folks behind thee applications would be considered, for lack of a better term, RACKETEERING.
Upon seeing the list of applicants I had to ask myself, “Why are some of these applicants not listed as managing members of their own projects, and why would some of these folks risk their entire worth on being involved with selling marijuana for a non-profit salary?” So I requested a copy of the applications from the City of Oakland and did some searching myself, since it seems the people working with the City have seemingly turned a blind eye to this obvious fraud.
Here is what I found:
G8 Medical Alliance, Inc.: The reason this application raises a huge red flag is because it is obviously a shell game being put on by the high profile self-proclaimed “potrepeneur” Dhar Mann, yet he is not listed anywhere on the application. Why? If you check the Secretary of State’s website he is listed as the person of service for the corporation but he is mysteriously absent from the application. Here is a screenshot from the CA Secretary of State’s site:
Yet there is not one mention of Dhar in the G8 Medical Alliance application. The address for the location is 70 Hegenberger Loop, the former home of Dhar’s failed WeGrow store, and a property owned by Dhar’s family’s MannEdge Property. The team of managing members includes Dhar’s attorney, Toni Mims-Chochran, Leo Bazille, the “chancellor” of Dhar’s UniCann project, and Dhar’s direct assistant and employee of MannEdge Properties, Ariana Patino. So why no Dhar Mann listed? Why is the kingpin of the organization nowhere to be found on the application? Why has he left his shills out in front, and has left himself out of the equation where the RFPA is concerned?
It is simple math really….MONEY. As the landlord for the organization, a person can make far more money than earning a simple non-profit salary. Submitted in the application is a letter of intent from MannEdge Properties, Dhar Mann’s real estate venture; but there is no lease included that discusses terms, nor are there terms laid out in what most real estate corporations would consider to be standard in any Letter of Intent. Why? Why is there no mention of what terms G8 Medical Alliance will pay for their rent and fees for the property? My guess is because it is substantial.
Also this property is definitely within 1000 ft. of Lighthouse Charter school and will likely draw the ire of US Attorney Melinda Haag, who has been sending out forfeiture letters to all dispensaries in the Northern District, including some well-known dispensaries in Oakland and SF. It is unclear why anyone would want to invest in a losing situation, but to each their own. The proof of capitalization is redacted from public info, so who knows where the money is coming from; but I have an idea.
In order to make it seem like this substantial rent payment is at an “arm’s length transaction,” it is necessary to leave Mr. Mann off of the application; but they probably should have thought of that when filing the corporation with the Secretary of State. But hey…the devil is in the details. The fact is that it is a text book racket, not to mention unethical and immoral. But Dhar and Co. are far from alone.
Tidewater Patients Group: Now here is where things get crazy interesting. Tidewater Patients Group is being proposed at the address 4709 Tidewater Ave. Public records show that this property is owned by “The Tidewater Group, LLC.” The grant deed for the property listed with the County of Alameda shows it was transferred on April 19th of 2011 from Ana Chretien, the Batarse Family Trust, Lily Hu, and Turquoise Villas. LLC, whose managing member is Carlos Plazola. The property is granted to “The Tidewater Group, LLC,” which consists of none other than Ana Chretien, Carlos Plazola, and Anthony Batarse. So essentially the ownership was by these people to themselves in a deal where the tranfer tax was $0.00. Interesting stuff, right?
This is not even the beginning of the interesting stuff. Let us begin with Mrs. Ana Chretien. She owns ABC Security, and until recently, had a very lucrative contract with the City of Oakland in the range of $2 million a year. After Mayor Jean Quan was elected, and power shifted in Oakland City Hall, she lost that contract. But here is the kicker. The address for The Tidewater Group is 1840 Embarcadero. If that sounds familiar, it is because it is the same address as HARBORSIDE HEALTH CENTER. That is right. Ana Chretien owns the building where Harborside is and they pay her a handsome fee for rent, rumored to be around $25,000 per month. Not a shabby rate for property on the East side of Oakland.
Carlos Plazola is former Chief of Staff and aide to then City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, and the President of Terra Linda Development. The Tidewater Patients Group lists Laura Blair as the person of service, who also works for Plazola’s Terra Linda Development. Plazola and Blair ALSO operated (or still operate?) a business called “Cannsultant” which specializes in lobbying Cities on behalf of dispensaries. I have met Ms. Blair a couple of times at City Council meetings and she is impressive in her approach. She also used to work for the City of Oakland as Deputy City Attorney. Stay with me…I know this is getting complex.
In the Oakland RFPA application there is a letter from Ana Chretien that explains the nature of the agreement between Tidewater Patient Group, who has Ms. Blair listed as the person of service on the State filing, but has William “Bill” Koziol listed as the President. He is a Realtor from Richmond, which makes me wonder how he is qualified to be the President of a medical cannabis organization; but I digress. Several other Board Members for Tidewater Patients Groups also have ties directly to Carlos Plazola, and in turn, Ana Chretien.
Bill Koziol
The letter included in the application from Ana Chretien is phrased as if all these people had never met before, beginning with “It was good meeting with you and hearing your presentation.” The letter says Mrs. Chretien “agrees to lease 1407 Tidewater,” but the application is for 4709 Tidewater. Maybe this is a simple typo, but none-the-less raises question to the validity of the document as a requirement. But here is the kicker…..Not only is Mrs. Chretien nice enough to rent the property to them, she is nice enough to finance the construction of a brand new building to the tune of $950,000. The letter states, “We agree that the cost of this construction wil be repaid by (the collective) as an augmentation to your monthly rent.” Anyone want to bet on the interest rate on that loan? But there is more…..in addition to the construction start up the letter states, “To help your organization fund its operating costs until it becomes self-sustaining (month 7 according to your proposal) we will provide you with loan based on the proforma you provided us. This loan will be repaid in addition to the agreed-upon rent and repayment of construction costs discussed above.” It says the loan is for “operational expenses plus 20%.” Now that is a sweet deal, man.
HOLY SHIT! The Tidewater Group is either the world’s most awesome and super nice landlord, willing to gamble well over a cool $Million bucks on this business that is Federally illegal and ran by people with zero experience in the cannabis industry;….or they are a shell company playing a shell game and extracting massive amounts of money from the “non-profit” through loans, rent, and ongoing fees. Conveniently there is no copy of that lease or discussion of those exact terms. It could be redacted, but I highly doubt it.
This kind of deal is unheard of in this day and age and in this economy. It is obviously clear that Ana Chretien and Carlos Plazola stand to make more money from these deals than they ever would listed as managing members of a non-profit organization. What is that called again? Oh yeah…A Racket. I wonder if the dumb-ass front people they have ran out as their shadow board know the possible implications of this type of bullshit. I highly doubt it.
Here is the funny part…I am not sure if it was an oversight or just a Freudian slip but Ms. Chretien signed her letter- Ana Chretien, Managing Member, Tidewater Patients Group, LLC, instead of The Tidewater Group, LLC, which is her company.
The entire thing is a shell game…..and to make things more complex, Ms. Blair, the person of service has her office listed as 19 Embarcadero Cove, a building owned by another applicant, Jeff Wilcox of Agramed. To even muddy the waters just a little more, the City of Oakland website has Carlos Plazola listed as a lobbyist for Wilcox and Co. for medicl cannabis related issues.
Screenshot from City of Oakland website
Crazy right? Which brings me to my next applicant, none other than Jeff Wilcox himself.
Agramed: The sole Board Member listed on the Agramed application is Jeffrey Wilcox, CEO. Wilcox came to fame for proposing the mega-grow projects in Oakland after summoning Terra Linda and Carlos Plazola to do a study on how much revenue a 100,000 sq. ft grow would make for the City. What resulted was the plan for mega-grows with a $200,000 plus buy in fee for the City. Wilcox stated in the press that he was willing to invest $20 million bucks and make Oakland the Silicon Vlley of cannabis. Of course, the rest is history and this backfired greatly resulting in then Oakland City Attorney alerting US Attorney Haag, and her writing a stern letter. This letter then caught like wildfire across the Nation, and now programs in WA, AZ, RI, NJ, and other states are being held up in lieu of ambiguous threats of enforcement by the Feds. But where was I?
Oh yeah….Wilcox is the owner of the 7.3 acre gem that is Embarcadero Cove at 1820 Embarcdero…. Yes, right next door to Harborside Health Center. The property for the proposed dispensary and grow is owned by Wilcox Embarcadro Associates, LLC. As of August 31st, the property is in default according to records at Alameda County.
The property is definitely within 1000 ft. of a school, so I am sure US Attorney Haag will be sending letters about seizing the property like she has to others in range of a school; but the real interesting aspect is that because Mr. Wilcox has listed himself as CEO of this Federally illegal operation it would be very easy for the Feds to seize the property outright. There is not even an attempt at a shell game “arm’s length” transaction to protect the property from seizure. It is all right there.
To Wilcox credit, the letter drafted by his attorney, Jennifer L. Kassan, Esq. states
Delays in commencing operations due to the Feds is something that should have been thought of LONG before submitting an application with the City. Nothing has changed with Federal law. It would be truly sad if the City awarded a permit to an organization who stated in their opening letter that they may not have the courage to really open should the be granted the permit.
But should they open, check out THIS sweet deal…In Table 1-11 of their application it lists “Percent Distribution of Expenditures” and “Rent” is listed as 10.2% of the expenditures of the organization. Mind you, it lists “Cost of Goods Sold” as just 13.3%, so the 10.2% being paid for “rent” directly to Wilcox is almost as much as the Cost of Goods.
BUT get this….the application says:
So let us do the quick math….based on projections by Jeffrey Wicox, CEO and sole Board Member of Agramed, is going to pay 10.2% of his revenues to Jeffrey Wilcox of Wilcox Embarcadro Associates, LLC for rent? And he will make a non-profit salary I assume from being the CEO of the company? So in year one he will pay $663,000 in rent, increasing to $1,846,200 in rent in per year, then increasing to a whopping $2,835,600 per year in rent paid from himself to himself. It is fucking brilliant really. And you can be sure this does not include the handsome at least 10% loan of start-up fees he probably makes to the company to get going. Talk about a fucking racket. Damn, I need to get rich so I can do all of this twisted back room shit because I have a grip of cash.
Bottom line is that all is not what it seems in the Oakland application process. The entire thing lacks transparency and honesty. People who are business moguls, and most who were not even likely patients before wanting to get in the business, are invading the process in hopes of riches and fortune. It seems they plan on extracting those fortunes from the “non-profit” industry through property ownership and jacked up rent rates. None of these people have a lick of experience actually dispensing cannabis, and I would bet MOST HAVE NEVER EVEN USED CANNABIS IN THE PAST DECADE.
For those who are concerned about the big business interests coming in and raping the industry, you can be sure that this shell game is set up to do just that. There is no pea under the shell. There is no transparency. What is clear is that there are people with no experience in the cannabis industry using their contacts at City Hall and their extreme wealth to buy the “competitive” RFPA process. And the worst part is that there is little questioning of the applications for legitimacy. Lord knows how they scored them, but one thing is certain, if I can do this homework and connect the most obvious dots a Federal forensic accountant can too. If there is one thing I have come to learn about the Feds in my interaction with them, and through seeing them attack our industry, is that they do not appreciate being bullshitted. It is like trying to run from a Grizzly Bear. They love the hunt. The backdoor shell game shit is what they despise far more than just dispensing cannabis to patients.
If I were one of the folks who have been convinced by one of these property owners to act as the managing members of the collective, so that they could receive enormous profits from increased rent fees, I would be scared. Nothing is worse than getting a 10-year mandatory minimum for being listed as an “organizer/leader” of a company so someone else could make the real money. Food for thought.
SHELL GAMES: How applicants in Oakland are getting over on the system.
Posted by Mickey Martin
Step right up, folks! Hurry! Hurry! Do I have an opportunity for you…
The essence of a shell game is based in the illusion that the sucker being duped by the Shell Man actually is participating in an honest game. The reality is that in any skilled shell game, there is no pea under any of the shells; and the other people there, betting along with you to make you feel like you are not the only dummy, are likely shills working with the Shell Man to get your money.
In this case the dummy is the City of Oakland and the Shell Men (and women) are the applicants vying for the four medical cannabis dispensary permits. After reviewing the applications for these folks it has become clear that the folks listed on these applications are actually the shills for some very familiar and well-connected Shell Men in Oakland.
The problem is that in the real world a shell game is nothing more than fraud, and the actions being perpetrated by the folks behind thee applications would be considered, for lack of a better term, RACKETEERING.
Upon seeing the list of applicants I had to ask myself, “Why are some of these applicants not listed as managing members of their own projects, and why would some of these folks risk their entire worth on being involved with selling marijuana for a non-profit salary?” So I requested a copy of the applications from the City of Oakland and did some searching myself, since it seems the people working with the City have seemingly turned a blind eye to this obvious fraud.
Here is what I found:
G8 Medical Alliance, Inc.: The reason this application raises a huge red flag is because it is obviously a shell game being put on by the high profile self-proclaimed “potrepeneur” Dhar Mann, yet he is not listed anywhere on the application. Why? If you check the Secretary of State’s website he is listed as the person of service for the corporation but he is mysteriously absent from the application. Here is a screenshot from the CA Secretary of State’s site:
Yet there is not one mention of Dhar in the G8 Medical Alliance application. The address for the location is 70 Hegenberger Loop, the former home of Dhar’s failed WeGrow store, and a property owned by Dhar’s family’s MannEdge Property. The team of managing members includes Dhar’s attorney, Toni Mims-Chochran, Leo Bazille, the “chancellor” of Dhar’s UniCann project, and Dhar’s direct assistant and employee of MannEdge Properties, Ariana Patino. So why no Dhar Mann listed? Why is the kingpin of the organization nowhere to be found on the application? Why has he left his shills out in front, and has left himself out of the equation where the RFPA is concerned?
It is simple math really….MONEY. As the landlord for the organization, a person can make far more money than earning a simple non-profit salary. Submitted in the application is a letter of intent from MannEdge Properties, Dhar Mann’s real estate venture; but there is no lease included that discusses terms, nor are there terms laid out in what most real estate corporations would consider to be standard in any Letter of Intent. Why? Why is there no mention of what terms G8 Medical Alliance will pay for their rent and fees for the property? My guess is because it is substantial.
Also this property is definitely within 1000 ft. of Lighthouse Charter school and will likely draw the ire of US Attorney Melinda Haag, who has been sending out forfeiture letters to all dispensaries in the Northern District, including some well-known dispensaries in Oakland and SF. It is unclear why anyone would want to invest in a losing situation, but to each their own. The proof of capitalization is redacted from public info, so who knows where the money is coming from; but I have an idea.
In order to make it seem like this substantial rent payment is at an “arm’s length transaction,” it is necessary to leave Mr. Mann off of the application; but they probably should have thought of that when filing the corporation with the Secretary of State. But hey…the devil is in the details. The fact is that it is a text book racket, not to mention unethical and immoral. But Dhar and Co. are far from alone.
Tidewater Patients Group: Now here is where things get crazy interesting. Tidewater Patients Group is being proposed at the address 4709 Tidewater Ave. Public records show that this property is owned by “The Tidewater Group, LLC.” The grant deed for the property listed with the County of Alameda shows it was transferred on April 19th of 2011 from Ana Chretien, the Batarse Family Trust, Lily Hu, and Turquoise Villas. LLC, whose managing member is Carlos Plazola. The property is granted to “The Tidewater Group, LLC,” which consists of none other than Ana Chretien, Carlos Plazola, and Anthony Batarse. So essentially the ownership was by these people to themselves in a deal where the tranfer tax was $0.00. Interesting stuff, right?
This is not even the beginning of the interesting stuff. Let us begin with Mrs. Ana Chretien. She owns ABC Security, and until recently, had a very lucrative contract with the City of Oakland in the range of $2 million a year. After Mayor Jean Quan was elected, and power shifted in Oakland City Hall, she lost that contract. But here is the kicker. The address for The Tidewater Group is 1840 Embarcadero. If that sounds familiar, it is because it is the same address as HARBORSIDE HEALTH CENTER. That is right. Ana Chretien owns the building where Harborside is and they pay her a handsome fee for rent, rumored to be around $25,000 per month. Not a shabby rate for property on the East side of Oakland.
Carlos Plazola is former Chief of Staff and aide to then City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, and the President of Terra Linda Development. The Tidewater Patients Group lists Laura Blair as the person of service, who also works for Plazola’s Terra Linda Development. Plazola and Blair ALSO operated (or still operate?) a business called “Cannsultant” which specializes in lobbying Cities on behalf of dispensaries. I have met Ms. Blair a couple of times at City Council meetings and she is impressive in her approach. She also used to work for the City of Oakland as Deputy City Attorney. Stay with me…I know this is getting complex.
In the Oakland RFPA application there is a letter from Ana Chretien that explains the nature of the agreement between Tidewater Patient Group, who has Ms. Blair listed as the person of service on the State filing, but has William “Bill” Koziol listed as the President. He is a Realtor from Richmond, which makes me wonder how he is qualified to be the President of a medical cannabis organization; but I digress. Several other Board Members for Tidewater Patients Groups also have ties directly to Carlos Plazola, and in turn, Ana Chretien.
Bill Koziol
The letter included in the application from Ana Chretien is phrased as if all these people had never met before, beginning with “It was good meeting with you and hearing your presentation.” The letter says Mrs. Chretien “agrees to lease 1407 Tidewater,” but the application is for 4709 Tidewater. Maybe this is a simple typo, but none-the-less raises question to the validity of the document as a requirement. But here is the kicker…..Not only is Mrs. Chretien nice enough to rent the property to them, she is nice enough to finance the construction of a brand new building to the tune of $950,000. The letter states, “We agree that the cost of this construction wil be repaid by (the collective) as an augmentation to your monthly rent.” Anyone want to bet on the interest rate on that loan? But there is more…..in addition to the construction start up the letter states, “To help your organization fund its operating costs until it becomes self-sustaining (month 7 according to your proposal) we will provide you with loan based on the proforma you provided us. This loan will be repaid in addition to the agreed-upon rent and repayment of construction costs discussed above.” It says the loan is for “operational expenses plus 20%.” Now that is a sweet deal, man.
HOLY SHIT! The Tidewater Group is either the world’s most awesome and super nice landlord, willing to gamble well over a cool $Million bucks on this business that is Federally illegal and ran by people with zero experience in the cannabis industry;….or they are a shell company playing a shell game and extracting massive amounts of money from the “non-profit” through loans, rent, and ongoing fees. Conveniently there is no copy of that lease or discussion of those exact terms. It could be redacted, but I highly doubt it.
This kind of deal is unheard of in this day and age and in this economy. It is obviously clear that Ana Chretien and Carlos Plazola stand to make more money from these deals than they ever would listed as managing members of a non-profit organization. What is that called again? Oh yeah…A Racket. I wonder if the dumb-ass front people they have ran out as their shadow board know the possible implications of this type of bullshit. I highly doubt it.
Here is the funny part…I am not sure if it was an oversight or just a Freudian slip but Ms. Chretien signed her letter- Ana Chretien, Managing Member, Tidewater Patients Group, LLC, instead of The Tidewater Group, LLC, which is her company.
The entire thing is a shell game…..and to make things more complex, Ms. Blair, the person of service has her office listed as 19 Embarcadero Cove, a building owned by another applicant, Jeff Wilcox of Agramed. To even muddy the waters just a little more, the City of Oakland website has Carlos Plazola listed as a lobbyist for Wilcox and Co. for medicl cannabis related issues.
Screenshot from City of Oakland website
Crazy right? Which brings me to my next applicant, none other than Jeff Wilcox himself.
Agramed: The sole Board Member listed on the Agramed application is Jeffrey Wilcox, CEO. Wilcox came to fame for proposing the mega-grow projects in Oakland after summoning Terra Linda and Carlos Plazola to do a study on how much revenue a 100,000 sq. ft grow would make for the City. What resulted was the plan for mega-grows with a $200,000 plus buy in fee for the City. Wilcox stated in the press that he was willing to invest $20 million bucks and make Oakland the Silicon Vlley of cannabis. Of course, the rest is history and this backfired greatly resulting in then Oakland City Attorney alerting US Attorney Haag, and her writing a stern letter. This letter then caught like wildfire across the Nation, and now programs in WA, AZ, RI, NJ, and other states are being held up in lieu of ambiguous threats of enforcement by the Feds. But where was I?
Oh yeah….Wilcox is the owner of the 7.3 acre gem that is Embarcadero Cove at 1820 Embarcdero…. Yes, right next door to Harborside Health Center. The property for the proposed dispensary and grow is owned by Wilcox Embarcadro Associates, LLC. As of August 31st, the property is in default according to records at Alameda County.
The property is definitely within 1000 ft. of a school, so I am sure US Attorney Haag will be sending letters about seizing the property like she has to others in range of a school; but the real interesting aspect is that because Mr. Wilcox has listed himself as CEO of this Federally illegal operation it would be very easy for the Feds to seize the property outright. There is not even an attempt at a shell game “arm’s length” transaction to protect the property from seizure. It is all right there.
To Wilcox credit, the letter drafted by his attorney, Jennifer L. Kassan, Esq. states
Delays in commencing operations due to the Feds is something that should have been thought of LONG before submitting an application with the City. Nothing has changed with Federal law. It would be truly sad if the City awarded a permit to an organization who stated in their opening letter that they may not have the courage to really open should the be granted the permit.
But should they open, check out THIS sweet deal…In Table 1-11 of their application it lists “Percent Distribution of Expenditures” and “Rent” is listed as 10.2% of the expenditures of the organization. Mind you, it lists “Cost of Goods Sold” as just 13.3%, so the 10.2% being paid for “rent” directly to Wilcox is almost as much as the Cost of Goods.
BUT get this….the application says:
So let us do the quick math….based on projections by Jeffrey Wicox, CEO and sole Board Member of Agramed, is going to pay 10.2% of his revenues to Jeffrey Wilcox of Wilcox Embarcadro Associates, LLC for rent? And he will make a non-profit salary I assume from being the CEO of the company? So in year one he will pay $663,000 in rent, increasing to $1,846,200 in rent in per year, then increasing to a whopping $2,835,600 per year in rent paid from himself to himself. It is fucking brilliant really. And you can be sure this does not include the handsome at least 10% loan of start-up fees he probably makes to the company to get going. Talk about a fucking racket. Damn, I need to get rich so I can do all of this twisted back room shit because I have a grip of cash.
Bottom line is that all is not what it seems in the Oakland application process. The entire thing lacks transparency and honesty. People who are business moguls, and most who were not even likely patients before wanting to get in the business, are invading the process in hopes of riches and fortune. It seems they plan on extracting those fortunes from the “non-profit” industry through property ownership and jacked up rent rates. None of these people have a lick of experience actually dispensing cannabis, and I would bet MOST HAVE NEVER EVEN USED CANNABIS IN THE PAST DECADE.
For those who are concerned about the big business interests coming in and raping the industry, you can be sure that this shell game is set up to do just that. There is no pea under the shell. There is no transparency. What is clear is that there are people with no experience in the cannabis industry using their contacts at City Hall and their extreme wealth to buy the “competitive” RFPA process. And the worst part is that there is little questioning of the applications for legitimacy. Lord knows how they scored them, but one thing is certain, if I can do this homework and connect the most obvious dots a Federal forensic accountant can too. If there is one thing I have come to learn about the Feds in my interaction with them, and through seeing them attack our industry, is that they do not appreciate being bullshitted. It is like trying to run from a Grizzly Bear. They love the hunt. The backdoor shell game shit is what they despise far more than just dispensing cannabis to patients.
If I were one of the folks who have been convinced by one of these property owners to act as the managing members of the collective, so that they could receive enormous profits from increased rent fees, I would be scared. Nothing is worse than getting a 10-year mandatory minimum for being listed as an “organizer/leader” of a company so someone else could make the real money. Food for thought.
