SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Unrivaled Brands, Inc. (OTCQX: UNRV) (“Unrivaled” or the “Company”), a vertically integrated multi-state cannabis company with offices in California and Oregon , filed a counterclaim against Frank Kavanaugh, Jay Yadon, Bernard Steimman and their company People’s California, LLC (“People’s California”) on September 20, 2022 for fraud and negligent misrepresentation in connection with the sale of the pharmacy People’s First Choice (the ” People’s Dispensary”) and other assets to Unrivaled in November 2021. People’s California lists Fort Ashford Funds, BRP Ventures and People’s, LLC as managers/members filed with the California Secretary of State. Fort Ashford Funds is a privately held investment firm that lists Frank Kavanaugh, Susan Kavanaugh and Andrew Krajacic as managing directors on its website. BRP Ventures is a consulting firm that lists John Yadon as Manager/Member.

In the counterclaim, Unrivaled alleges, among other things, that around the time of the sale, Kavanaugh, Yadon and Steimman, through a New Patriot Holdings, Inc. entity, siphoned $5,000,000 from Unrivaled through backdated accounting entries and letters. Offs related to the People’s Pharmacy.

“One of my first assignments as interim CEO was to investigate the events and circumstances surrounding the acquisition of People’s California assets. I had serious concerns about the transactions and the significant red flags surrounding the deals. The more my team digs into the facts, the more we find,” said newly appointed interim CEO Sabas Carrillo. “In addition to our counterclaim for fraud based on what my team and I discovered after just a few weeks at Unrivaled, we expect that more claims will need to be made in the near future as we continue to investigate,” continued Carrillo.

According to the counterclaim, Unrivaled has accepted over $4,000,000 in IRS tax liabilities incurred by…