U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada | U.S. Department of Justice
The founder and chairman of Hightimes Holding Corp., Adam Levin, has agreed to plead guilty to charges related to a criminal conspiracy involving undisclosed payments. The company publishes High Times magazine. Levin, aged 45 from Marina Del Rey, was charged with conspiracy to tout securities for undisclosed compensation last month. He agreed to plead guilty as per a plea agreement filed on December 20.
Levin is scheduled for his initial court appearance on January 14 in the United States District Court. He becomes the fourth defendant implicated in this scheme where companies compensated an analyst at "Palm Beach Venture," an investment newsletter with nationwide subscribers. Jonathan William Mikula, the analyst; Christian Fernandez, who laundered money for the scheme; and Raj Beri, CEO of a Beverly Hills company involved in brokering deals for these payments, have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing in July.
Executives like Levin paid Palm Beach Venture to publish promotional pieces about their securities offerings. Federal law mandates full disclosure from anyone receiving payment for promoting securities offerings. Levin's plea agreement reveals that between 2020 and 2021, "Hightimes raised approximately $20 million from more than 10 investor-victims, with at least $6 million associated with Palm Beach Venture’s promotion."
Levin admitted to paying $150,000 via wire transfers and additional amounts for entertainment expenses in exchange for favorable articles. To hide these transactions, he used a sham “marketing agreement” and routed payments through a Canadian bank to a shell company there.
Mikula ensured that Palm Beach Venture promoted Hightimes’ securities offering on April 6 and September 23 in 2020 with false statements about not receiving compensation for the promotions. Levin also confessed to lying to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission by denying involvement in a "pay-for-play arrangement."
The FBI is investigating this case while the SEC had previously filed a civil action against Hightimes which was resolved in 2023 with Hightimes agreeing to a cease-and-desist order and paying $558,071 as penalty.
Investors who suspect they might be victims of this scheme can find more information at https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/united-states-v-jonathan-william-mikula-christian-fernandez-and-amit-raj-beri.
Assistant United States Attorney Adam P. Schleifer of the Corporate and Securities Fraud Strike Force is prosecuting this case.
