A Miami-based “global hemp company” is a plaintiff in a lawsuit alleging a conspiracy involving criminal wire fraud, embezzlement and money laundering against four cannabis executives.
The company, LGNDS, joined ex-boxer Mike Tyson and professional wrestler Ric Flair in suing former business partners over their celebrity cannabis branding ventures, alleging they were defrauded and cut out of revenues.
Tyson and Flair, who tied their names and likenesses to a range of marijuana and hemp products, are the lead plaintiffs in a 76-page complaint filed Dec. 19, 2025 in U.S. District Court in Illinois. Carma, a Chicago-based branding company behind their cannabis brands, is a fourth plaintiff.
The lawsuit names former Carma executives and shareholders as defendants:
• Chad Bronstein, former chairman and president of Carma;
• Adam Wilks, former chief executive officer;
• Nicole Cosby, former board member and chief legal and licensing officer; and
• James Case, a Carma shareholder.
They are accused of defrauding the celebrity partners and treating LGNDS as “their own personal piggy bank,” according to the lawsuit.
LGNDS’s role
LGNDS purchased rights to use Tyson’s likeness on a broad range of products made from hemp, mushrooms, nicotine and kava, and merchandising such as apparel and footwear.
LGNDS was brought into the celebrity branding efforts specifically to help launch an e-commerce marketplace with global shipping for three “hemp-derived verticals”: delta-8 THC, hemp-derived delta-9 THC and CBD. Announcements around the time of that deal branded LGNDS as a “market-leading hemp company” with “global reach” and product innovation in hemp-derived cannabinoids.
Read more at Hemp Today
