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The “Street Wolf Weed” has received a large bill for costs after a judge ruled that he made unsubstantiated allegations against his former partners in a failed medical cannabis venture.
Ross Smith, founder of the Bay of Plenty-based company Medicann, must pay his former CEO, Brendon Ogilvy, $ 43,168 and BDO liquidators Paul Manning and Kenneth Brown $ 28,381, a total of $ 71,549.
The costs arise from a hearing in the Tauranga High Court.
The liquidators had requested instructions on whether Smith’s shares in the company had become nil before its liquidation. Associate Justice Peter Andrew ruled yes.
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During the hearing, Smith, who alleges the company was robbed, accused Ogilvy of fraud and dishonesty.
Christel Yardley / Stuff
Ross Smith, the self-proclaimed wolf of Weed St.
Associate Judge Andrew said in his cost ruling that the claims were not credible.
“I accept that the arrogant and destructive approach taken by Mr. Smith… was unreasonable and contributed unnecessarily to the time and expense of the procedure.
“On this basis, a higher cost award against Mr. Smith is warranted.”
Smith said Things liquidators were to blame for the high costs, spending $ 180,000 of investors’ money on something that “could have been handled through filings in half a day.”
“That is the way the New Zealand judicial system works,” he said.
He was not worried about the legal bill.
“I’ve moved on, I don’t care. It is autumn. Dude, I’ve spent more than that on lunch, it’s as worrying as a cloudy day in my world. “
Smith formed Medicann in 2018 after liquidating medical cannabis companies in Australia. More than $ 1 million was raised from entrepreneurs in the Bay of Plenty, much of which was spent before the business went into liquidation.
Ogilvy said at the original hearing that he was concerned that some of the statements made in an Information Memorandum provided to investors were not true.
Christel Yardley / Stuff
Brendon Ogilvy says he started having concerns on a research trip to Europe.
In its request for costs, it accused Smith of taking “unreasonable and meritless opposition to the request for instructions with the ulterior motive of depleting funds in the liquidation, so there was little or no distribution … to shareholders.” .
Judge Andrew said there was some basis for reaching that point of view, but in general, the costs should reflect how the parties acted during the litigation, not before.
He also noted that the parties had gone to mediation in November 2019 and Smith had been offered a payment of $ 100,000, a settlement that never came to pass.
“The result of the proceeding is that Mr. Smith … is clearly in a much worse financial position than he would have been if he had accepted the settlement offer. In my opinion, Mr. Smith has to accept significant responsibility for that outcome, ”the judge wrote.
It ordered a 25 percent “increase” in costs against Smith, but declined a request from Ogilvy and the settlement cost liquidators, who would have covered the full expenses.
Manning said the liquidators were satisfied with the result and were now consulting with a liquidation committee, on behalf of shareholders, on next steps.
Ogilvy said he was delighted with the result.
Smith said he planned to retire and move into a property he had purchased in Ko Samui, Thailand.
“Thailand’s medical cannabis scene is amazing, I’ll probably gift my services there.”
Smith said cheap, high-quality cannabis grown in places like Thailand and Colombia meant New Zealand medical cannabis companies had no chance.
“Australia has been using medical cannabis for five years and even after a $ 50 million investment, no one has made a penny.
“It’s all over for the medical cannabis companies in New Zealand – they’re all screwed, it’s over.”
