SA MJNA Article Rebuttal
Courtesy of poster: Unclesilas
Clear misrepresentations in your article:
1)
Quote:
Anthony W. Imbimbo
"Independent Auditor"
Not PCAOB Registered (therefore unqualified to independently audit an SEC reporting companies)
Culinary Institute of America trained Chef (with a minor in cooking the books?)
You fail to mention that Mr. Anthony Imbimbo is a CPA, with an Accounting degree from Bridgeport University. Included on the same page you referenced - were you hoping people just wouldn't read? He also worked at Ernst & Young and multiple regional firms.
He is not currently registered with the PCAOB, but was registered until 2010 when he withdrew registration - Imbimbo - PCAOB Registration. Likely withdrew his registration as there is a yearly fee associated with PCAOB membership and he does not audit any SEC reporting companies.
2)
Quote:
Ms. Michelle L. Sides - "Chairman" and Chief Operating Officer
According to multiple Medical Marijuana filings, Ms. Michelle L. Sides is the Chairman of the Board, Chief Operating Officer, and also indirectly controls ~ 48% of the Company through her beneficial ownership of Hemp Deposit and Distribution Corp. In addition, she is purportedly a Member of the Florida State Bar Association and possess extensive experience in corporate and real estate law. Interestingly, the Florida Bar records for Ms. Michelle Sides indicate she was previously the "Corporate Counsel" and sole employee for "North American Companies, LLC," the same entity Mr. Michael Llamas purportedly founded and utilized to execute "in excess of ten billion dollars in transactions" for distressed debt. However, in reality, Ms. Michelle Sides has been kicked out of the Florida Bar for unspecified reasons (rendering her not eligible to practice in Florida).
She has not been kicked out of the Florida Bar - she is delinquent in her continuted education (CLER) requirements - more info here. She is more focused on running a company than keeping current with her continued education requirements.
3)
Quote:
More interesting is the fact that on 09/30/12 and 12/02/12, Mr. Michael Llamas and Mr. Michael Corrigan, Esq. (MJNA's external counsel), respectively, certified that no members of the Company's management team had been subject to "a conviction in a criminal proceeding or named as a defendant in a pending criminal proceeding in the past five years" (Appendix C & D). This appears to be a blatant fabrication in regards to Mr. Michael Llamas prior court records. Moreover, THIS CLEARLY VIOLATES the OTC Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines SECTION 8B.1
Lies again... the filing from 9/30/12 does not include any such statement. The filing from 12/2/2012 states:
Quote:
To the best of my knowledge, after inquiry inquiry of management and the board of directors, neither the issuer, any 5% shareholder, nor counsel is under investigation by any federal, or state regulatory authority for any violation of federal or state securities laws.
Although it is unfortunate that Llamas is involved in the wire fraud case, that is not a securities case. You do have a valid point that Llamas signed as president after stepping down, but I would imagine these documents were already prepared and signed as of 9/17/12 and it was an oversight that Ted Caligiuri needed to sign as President. Michael LLamas has all but been disassociated with the company since being indicted - the company is now in good hands.
4)
Quote:
Mr. Theodore Caligiuri - Purportedly Chief Executive Officer
On 09/30/12, Medical Marijuana announced it hired Mr. Theodore Caligiuri as "Interim President and CEO." Interestingly, Mr. Theodore Caligiuri seems to be completely lacking any prior experience as a manager of any publicly traded company, has yet to sign-off on any financial statements, and still works as a residential real estate agent for Coldwell Banker. In our opinion, he is completely unqualified to...
I apologize, I don't have a Seeking Alpha membership (and won't register if this type of rubbish gets published), so I will have to stop here: Mr. Ted Caligiuri has served on the MJNA board since early 2011 when MJNA partnered with Cannabank - source. In the last reference you will find that Mr. Caligiuri has a past as an entrepreneur, including:
Quote:
A Southern California native, Mr. Caligiuri is an accomplished leader and MJNA shareholder with over 25 years of business management experience. He is known in the San Diego community not only for his business leadership, but for his involvement in several charitable organizations including the YMCA. His professional experience includes work as a management consultant and technology consultant. As a management consultant, he assisted companies in managing growth and streamlining operations. As a technology consultant, he assisted companies in the identification and proprietary control of technologies for new products, including the commercialization of NASA developed technologies. In 1991, he founded an environmental product company targeted at reducing waste by enhancing the convenience of re-usable shopping bags. In this role, Mr. Caligiuri invented and patented new consumer-focused shopping bag concepts. In the early 2000's he was the Chief Operating Officer of an ergonomic writing instrument company and was responsible for doubling sales and filing 6 patents over the course of 2 years. Currently, he works as a Real Estate Consultant for Coldwell Banker Commercial.
In addition, Mr. Caligiuri has an MBA from California State University, Long Beach. Can we please hear more about your qualifications before I start taking your word over someone who has found such success as Mr. Caligirui?
Please keep turning those stones... add fuel to the fire for this libel suit.
