Mike Tyson and Ric Flair have joined forces in a sweeping lawsuit accusing former cannabis business partners of running an alleged fraud scheme tied to their weed brands.
According to court filings first obtained by Front Office Sports, Tyson, Flair, cannabis licensing company Carma HoldCo Inc., and Miami-based hemp firm LGNDS filed a 76-page civil complaint last week in U.S. District Court in Illinois.
The suit names four defendants: former Carma president Chad Bronstein, ex-CEO Adam Wilks, former chief legal and licensing officer Nicole Cosby, and shareholder James Case.
The complaint alleges that the defendants engaged in a “brazen RICO conspiracy,” accusing them of wire fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, extortion, securities fraud, and self-dealing that allegedly enriched them by tens of millions of dollars. Tyson and Flair are seeking more than $50 million in damages, along with legal fees, and have requested a jury trial.
At the center of the dispute are cannabis products bearing the stars’ names, including Tyson 2.0 and Ric Flair Drip, which were developed through partnerships with Carma HoldCo Inc. Tyson was named CEO of Carma earlier this year.
The filing claims that during their time at Carma, Bronstein and Wilks allegedly treated the company “as their own personal piggy bank,” citing more than $1 million in expenses tied to private jet travel, yacht-related costs, home renovations, a mortgage payment for Wilks’ residence, and what the suit characterizes as lavish entertainment and unauthorized bonuses.
One specific allegation is that Bronstein used company funds to purchase a luxury watch for Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay without approval or McVay’s knowledge, and that roughly $15,000 was misappropriated.
Attorneys for the defendants have strongly denied the allegations. Jonathan Cyrluk, representing Bronstein and Cosby, called the complaint “fiction dressed up as a lawsuit,” adding that his clients “won’t be bullied.”
Wilks’s attorney, Terry Campbell, similarly dismissed the claims as “without substance,” saying his client intends to fight them in court.