Two former Vireo Health officials face felony charges over allegations that they illegally transported medical cannabis oils from their Minnesota to New York facilities, the Journal News reports. Authorities in Minnesota allege that ex-Chief Medical Officer Dr. Laura Bultman, and former Chief Security Officer Ronald Owens used the company’s armored vehicle to drive about $500,000 worth of its cannabis oils from Minnesota to New York, trying to meet the January 2016 deadline under New York’s medical cannabis program.
Last spring, authorities were alerted to the scheme by a whistleblower and raided one of the company’s Minnesota’s facilities and investigators seized company records, computers, and paperwork associated with the missing products. According to the report, Bultman’s emails and text messages showed that the company was having trouble manufacturing products in New York and allegedly detailed the plan to illegally fill the shelves with products from their Minnesota operations.
Andrew Mangini, a spokesman for Vireo Health, said the company has cooperated in the investigation and confirmed that both Bultman and Owens were no longer with the company.
“When we became aware of the possibility that one or more individuals may have acted in ways contrary to the laws of the state and to our own policies and procedures, we acted immediately to investigate the allegations, communicate with our regulators and take appropriate action, Mangini said in the report.
Bultman and Owens both face two counts of two counts of intentionally transferring medical cannabis to a person other than allowed under Minnesota state law; if convicted, they face penalties of up to two years imprisonment and a $3,000 fine per charge.
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