CANADIAN CANNABIS CORRUPTION – PART 2

This will be part 2 in a series of articles aimed at exposing the corruption around the Canadian MMPR process and speculative agenda of parties involved. In this article, I would like to expound upon some of the details of certain individuals efforts, as well as provide some background for character reference to aid in context. Please note that readers are advised to conduct their own research and make decisions based upon their own reasoning, and sources of information they deem trust worthy. The content within this article is the express opinion of the writer and should be treated as such.

I recently wrote to you in an effort to draw light upon some of the potentially unhealthy relationships surrounding CEN Biotech competitor Privateer holdings, including that of NDP member Libby Davies, who has been in direct communication with Tilray representatives, as well as through one Mr. Grant Robertson of the Globe and Mail, who by many accounts, appears to be aligned with the anti MMPR position of Miss Davies. Miss Davies, when contacted for comment on more than one occasion, would not provide details of her relationship with Privateer Holdings or related companies or compensations from the same, although we have been made aware of general statements in response to other individuals. You can find part 1 of this series here.

I would like to expound further upon Grant Robertson’s fixation on Cen Biotech, as well as highlight our brief communication with him, and provide a little background on Mr. Robertson’s professional career. Mr. Robertson has written no less than 9 articles as of late against CEN Biotech. 3 of which have been released since publishing our last article, further reinforcing the position of MMJ.TODAY in regards to Mr. Robertson’s agenda. How many more will be released? These articles are becoming ever more frequent as the company’s share price is pushed further down with each new publication, and the Globe and Mail as a news outlet does seem to be under heavy abuse. The majority of the content of these articles appears to be rehashed material from each of the previous articles. One has to wonder, if Grant has no financial interest or underlying agenda in regards to CEN Biotech, why he, as a respected writer for a professional publication such as the Globe and Mail, would continue to attack this company so fiercely, without any definitive evidence to support his claims, from such a subjective and damaging viewpoint, and with very little new information in each successive article. Perhaps Grant is simply in need of page views to revive his career and is attempting to stir up some controversy. One can never tell.

The last 3 articles are merely days apart of each other and have been revised (toned down) on several occasions after release. We recently contacted Grant in regards to our investigation to see if he had any comment and to see if he would answer any questions. Grant was responsive initially, but would not answer specific questions in regards to his relationships. Grants preemptive reply is as follows:

“Here is the response, on behalf of the newspaper: 

The Globe and Mail’s code of conduct prevents its reporters from holding shares or any financial position in the companies its reporters cover. This is overseen by an independent auditor and is strictly adhered to. Nor are there any affiliations to the companies.

The questions The Globe and Mail has been asking of CEN Biotech are questions that we believe investors and the broader public have a right to know. The company has yet to address many of these concerns.”

However, although we appreciated the general policy of the Globe and Mail being provided, this response did not specifically address our concerns and it was not written on behalf of Grant Robertson. Nor do we believe this response is sufficient as an answer by only providing general policy outlines. If it were possible, we would urge this alleged auditor to pay close attention during his next audit.

We made it very clear to Grant that we have found definitive answers and public statements made by the company to address virtually all of the concerns or allegations brought forward, and in some cases, several instances of documented definitive answers regarding questions and allegations which are still being portrayed as unanswered. We also made it clear that we find the attention to detail in criticisms quite fascinating given the context of the situation and personalities involved, as well as the relationships involved in these publications and sources cited.

Grant would not provide an answer to our inquiry as to him having been in contact with Tilray / Privateer / Founders Fund representatives in any capacity in relation to CEN Biotech directly or indirectly. Grant would also not provide an answer on whether or not he has received any form of compensation from these individuals for any service or written content. Nor would he answer whether he had been bribed, coerced, threatened, or “strongly compelled” by any industry competitor of CEN Biotech, any member of the NDP or Liberal party , or any employees of the Globe in regards to publishing potentially damaging material regarding CEN biotech. Grant also would not comment on whether he had any relationship with the individuals mentioned in my previous article, or even his political stance and feelings towards the MMPR process. Though he was asked all of these questions.

We believe Grant Robertson is capable of unethical behavior, and could be prone to weakness when presented with financial compensation. Although we are still looking into further details in regards to Mr. Robertson’s past, we know Mr. Robertson has been known to cross the picket line / scab, on at least one occasion whereby Mr. Robertson joined the Calgary Herald Newsroom leading up to a legal strike. Working as a reporter during this strike at the expense of others while receiving financial compensation, was viewed by many as a shameful act.

For those who are not aware, a scab is a strikebreaker. A person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company before a trade union dispute, but rather hired to keep the organization running. “Strikebreakers” may also refer to workers (union members or not) who “cross picket lines” to work.

Freelancers, unemployed or retired journalists and disgraced journalists from other papers often scab in an effort to revive their careers. This practice is generally thought to be extremely unethical and disgraceful, and may perhaps allude to behavioral patterns.

Mr. Robertson has in the past been in contact with Mr. Alan Brochstein of 420 investor, who as I mentioned previously, had been closely associated with Braydon Sutton, Executive VP of CEN Competitor; Supreme Pharmaceuticals. Although, Mr. Brochstein has stated that he has had no contact with Mr. Robertson is several months.

We believe however, that Mr. Robertson may still have close ties to one of Alan’s associates, Mr. Mathew Finston, a blog investment writer through Seeking Alpha with a very strong fixation on the demise of CEN Biotech. Mr. Finston has written no less than 17 articles aimed at the demise of the company and / or its share price. These are the articles we could find easily, however there may be additional publications we are unaware of.

This does not in any way represent the extent of these attacks. There are at least 24 defamatory articles or articles with defamatory content by one avid supporter of Supreme Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Chris Parry of Stockhouse, who appears to proudly claim responsibility for the drop in share price. One of his “milder” comments in regards to these claims can be found in one of his articles:

“When I started covering the discrepancies between its promise and the actual facts behind the company, it slumped to $0.07. This past week, it dropped below $0.02.”

We also have reports of Mr. Finston claiming responsibility in a similar manner, and we have found other articles originating from or closely tied to this specific group of individuals. And while we do not believe this media ring is solely responsible for the reduction in share price, we do believe there is an agenda at work which we find quite fascinating. Overall, and astoundingly, there appears to be more than 60 articles written against CEN Biotech since the company announced its plans to become a licensed MMPR producer approximately 1 year ago. And these articles are almost exclusive to these individuals, as well as thousands of tweets, discussion board postings, and various Facebook group postings. And this is just what we have been made aware of thus far. Our team is still compiling this list, but we believe these individuals have been used as sources for other articles also, which may push that number up significantly.

Below you will find a stock chart for the last year of FITX trading. We have placed white dots to represent significant positive company events and/or PR releases. The purple dots represent articles that were released by this ring of individuals we are discussing today. Several conclusions can be drawn by studying this picture. You will notice that rapid or severe declines in stock price appear to be initiated by and riddled with negative press releases. You will also notice that on many occasions, a positive press release is quickly overshadowed by negative publications. Also worth noting perhaps is the increasing frequency of these hit pieces in down trends, which aid in driving the stock price south, as well as the incredible frequency of negative press since the company announced a quiet period in preparation for a spin off. “Leading up to” the Christmas Holiday appears to be relatively quiet.

Frankly, we believe this attack is unprecedented in the investment world. In order for a group of individuals to spend this amount of energy committed to the demise of a penny stock company’s market value, an underlying agenda of some kind must be present, as well as a significant threat to someone’s agenda. We believe it stands to reason that such an agenda would be financially or politically motivated.  Or perhaps both, as we alluded to previously.

Mr. Parry was also contacted for comment, but would not consent to answering any questions. Mr. Parry insinuated that he was in fact being contacted by a Bill Chaaban alias (CEO of CEN Biotech), and was not necessarily polite.

The frequency of attacks is quite interesting also. Many of these 60+ articles appear to be published quite strategically in relation to key events or times that might have had the greatest potential effect on the company’s stock price. We would anticipate, based upon our perception of the situation, that as time goes on these events would be properly investigated by the authorities on a criminal level (if not already underway). The resolve of these individuals for well over a year is quite astounding as I’m sure my readers can easily comprehend. In any case, we at MMJ.TODAY would love to hear from you at editor@mmj.today if you have any information that may aid us in our investigations. Stay tuned.

Mason Godric

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Disclaimer: The author has no affiliations with any company mentioned in this article and has not been financially compensated in any way shape or form.