The Cannabis Regulatory Agency issued a bulletin notifying licensed marijuana businesses about recent fraudulent activity in the cannabis industry. Last week, the CRA was informed by a CRA-licensed business that they were contacted by an individual claiming to work for the CRA and asking for immediate payment of licensing fees under the threat of license revocation.
The CRA reminds licensees that all communications from the CRA will come through Accela or from a Michigan.gov email address and that the CRA will not call licensees to collect payment of fees. In addition, the CRA reminds licensees that the CRA does not accept alternative payment methods such as Bitcoin.
Licensees are encouraged to have their staff verify the validity of a call or text with a manager or owner before processing any payments to an individual claiming to be from the CRA. Licensees and applicants are reminded that the administrative rules require they notify the CRA and local law enforcement within 24 hours of becoming aware – or within 24 hours of when they should have been aware – of the theft or loss of any product or criminal activity at the marijuana business.
Incidents of fraudulent activity or attempted fraudulent activity that coincide with the above themes should be reported to the CRA using the online reporting form process and should be reported to local law enforcement.
Questions can be sent to the Cannabis Regulatory Agency Field Operations Section at CRA-CSS@michigan.gov.