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Laszlo Bagi said he got into the marijuana business partly out of desperation. In 2009 and 2010, as the economy crippled the heating and cooling business he has long owned, Bagi needed a new venture. Flush with warehouse space at an industrial park he owns at the base of the foothills north of Boulder, Bagi went into marijuana even though, he said, he doesn't know a thing about growing the plant and doesn't use it.
"It's just a business for me," he said in an interview earlier this year. "We got into this," he added later, "because the recession was so bad. And, now, here we are." Bagi is perhaps the most mysterious of the federal raids' targets because he appears to be the least connected to the group. He said he has never done business with anyone from VIP Cannabis and knows the other raid targets only in passing. Neither business nor court records provide a link. He denies wrongdoing and says he has no idea why he was targeted in the federal raids. "It's been a lot of emotional distress," he said.
Bagi said he started in 2010 with one dispensary inside the industrial park. It has since closed, although the grow warehouses remain there. Instead, court records show Bagi expanded his medical-marijuana business in early 2012 with the purchase of a chain of six dispensaries in Denver and surrounding suburbs called Green Medicals. Trouble arose, however, after he closed the sale. When a local license transfer for one of the chain's dispensaries in Northglenn hit a snag, officials there refused to grant Bagi a new license to operate a medical marijuana business because the City Council found that "Mr. Bagi is not of good moral character," according to the council resolution denying the license.
According to the resolution, Bagi had previously pleaded guilty in Northglenn municipal court to "operating a medical marijuana center without a valid transfer of a medical marijuana license." He also became embroiled in a lengthy lawsuit with the chain's previous owners, Chuck and Patsin McGinness, over who was liable for the chain's more than $500,000 in debt. The McGinnesses claimed Bagi had sneaked in a change to the purchase agreement at the last minute. Bagi denied the claim.
In an order last month, Denver District Court Judge Ann Frick said the McGinnesses were not personally liable and criticized Bagi for "sneaky and dishonest conduct." But she concluded there was "not sufficient evidence of fraud." Through a spokeswoman, Bagi declined to comment on the lawsuit, except to note he is appealing Frick's ruling. Bagi applied for recreational sales licenses at two of his Denver stores. He withdrew those applications after the state issued notices of denial for them.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Denverpost.com
Author: John Ingold
Contact: Contact Us - The Denver Post
Website: Boulder medical marijuana raid target has few links to other targets - The Denver Post
"It's just a business for me," he said in an interview earlier this year. "We got into this," he added later, "because the recession was so bad. And, now, here we are." Bagi is perhaps the most mysterious of the federal raids' targets because he appears to be the least connected to the group. He said he has never done business with anyone from VIP Cannabis and knows the other raid targets only in passing. Neither business nor court records provide a link. He denies wrongdoing and says he has no idea why he was targeted in the federal raids. "It's been a lot of emotional distress," he said.
Bagi said he started in 2010 with one dispensary inside the industrial park. It has since closed, although the grow warehouses remain there. Instead, court records show Bagi expanded his medical-marijuana business in early 2012 with the purchase of a chain of six dispensaries in Denver and surrounding suburbs called Green Medicals. Trouble arose, however, after he closed the sale. When a local license transfer for one of the chain's dispensaries in Northglenn hit a snag, officials there refused to grant Bagi a new license to operate a medical marijuana business because the City Council found that "Mr. Bagi is not of good moral character," according to the council resolution denying the license.
According to the resolution, Bagi had previously pleaded guilty in Northglenn municipal court to "operating a medical marijuana center without a valid transfer of a medical marijuana license." He also became embroiled in a lengthy lawsuit with the chain's previous owners, Chuck and Patsin McGinness, over who was liable for the chain's more than $500,000 in debt. The McGinnesses claimed Bagi had sneaked in a change to the purchase agreement at the last minute. Bagi denied the claim.
In an order last month, Denver District Court Judge Ann Frick said the McGinnesses were not personally liable and criticized Bagi for "sneaky and dishonest conduct." But she concluded there was "not sufficient evidence of fraud." Through a spokeswoman, Bagi declined to comment on the lawsuit, except to note he is appealing Frick's ruling. Bagi applied for recreational sales licenses at two of his Denver stores. He withdrew those applications after the state issued notices of denial for them.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Denverpost.com
Author: John Ingold
Contact: Contact Us - The Denver Post
Website: Boulder medical marijuana raid target has few links to other targets - The Denver Post
