Juicy Fields: Former CEO Claims He's Innocent

It's the biggest scam in the legal cannabis industry. Juicy Fields could have siphoned millions of dollars from its investors' accounts. The company had offices in the Netherlands, operated in several other European countries and participated in many cannabis events. Since mid-July, it has been impossible for users to log in to their Juicy Fields accounts and retrieve their money. 

The company launched during the pandemic and caused a sensation in the cannabis world. The smallest investment option of only 50 euros (around $51) for a single plant promised a return rate between 68 and 83 euros 108 days later, after reselling the harvested cannabis. Company data shows this model attracted half a million e-growers, primarily from Europe and Latin America. 

The plants were supposed to be grown in one of the countries where medical cannabis is legal. Juicy Fields claimed it was possible to visit its partner cultivation facilities where the investors' plants should have been grown. 

The company offered four investment packages: Juicy Flash (from 50 euros), Juicy Haze, Juicy Kush, and Juicy Mist (from 2000 euros). It was possible to invest up to €180,000 (around $183,000) with transactions acceptable via both bank transfers and cryptocurrencies.

Initially, investors were able to recoup their profits with the money from new entrants. The system worked until too many investors wanted to get their money back simultaneously, which caused the pyramid to collapse.

Some financial experts and cannabis specialists raised a red flag because of the company's surprisingly high return rates. Several financial authorities also issued warnings across Europe over the last couple of months. However, what sent the real shockwaves among the e-growers community was when at least $17 million went missing from a Juicy Fields account on July 14.

The Spanish publisher El País Financiero, which is investigating the case, was able to meet with former CEO Alain Glanse and retrieve documents (see below) that implicate three people with Russian passports were involved with the alleged scam. According to these documents, these three men effectively controlled the Juicy Fields company, or at least a large part of it. 

"I am not afraid of anything because I'm innocent," Alain Glanse told El País Financiero. "I just want to find these people. I have only met them five times. They hired me, and that's it."

El País Financiero reports that a document supposedly leaked by subsidiaries Juicy Holdings B.V. (Netherlands) and JuicyFields AG (Switzerland) contains a wealth of information about Juicy Fields alleged decision-makers. And it also includes details about many of their middle managers who may have been involved with the embezzlement of the money. The leaked document has been widely distributed by this point. 

Many investors, especially in France and Spain, have lost huge sums with this case. On the French website of Juicy Fields and its affiliated social networks, people are offering investors to help them get their money back. And this just might actually be another scam.