Nearly 1,200 investors have filed a class action lawsuit in Spain against a global medical cannabis investment platform, alleging fraud, embezzlement and money laundering, their lawyers said on Monday.
Netherlands-based JuicyFields promised high returns for investing in medicinal cannabis plants online, said Norberto Martinez of the Martinez-Blanco law firm, which filed the case.
A spokesman for Spain’s National Court, the country’s top criminal court, confirmed the lawsuit was filed over the weekend.
This is probably the first class action lawsuit against JuicyFields, which, according to media research, is said to have defrauded investors worldwide.
Founded in 2020, JuicyFields offered investors an opportunity to participate in the cultivation, harvesting and sale of cannabis plants and promised returns of between 29 percent and 66 percent, according to the law firm.
But JuicyFields suddenly went out of business in mid-July, freezing cash withdrawals and disappearing from the web, according to several investors.
The lawsuit accuses JuicyFields of operating like a Ponzi scheme, where early investors are paid off by earnings from later investors.
It is estimated that in Spain alone there are nearly 4,500 victims who have each lost an average of 6,500 euros ($6,645). Some people lost up to 200,000 euros.
The minimum investment was 50 euros, and funds could be deposited and withdrawn via bank transfer or cryptocurrencies.
The overall extent of JuicyFields’ alleged fraud is unclear. A woman has already lodged a complaint with the police against the company in the northern French city of Tourcoing.
The 58-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, said she started investing €50 in December 2021 and made a profit of €25 in just three and a half months.
“It gave me confidence, so I immediately put the money back in and invested bigger sums,” she told AFP, adding that she lost €3,600.
She is part of a group of over 1,600 members owned by mobile messaging service Telegram in France for people who want to take legal action against JuicyFields.
According to Arnaud Delomel, a lawyer representing hundreds of investors, a class action lawsuit is expected to be filed against JuicyFields in a French court before the end of the year.
AFP was unable to contact JuicyFields for comment and the company has not issued an official statement.
#Cannabis #investment #platform #hit #lawsuit #Spain
