Ric Flair & Mike Tyson File Federal Lawsuit Against Cannabis Company Over Alleged Embezzlement Scheme

Front Office Sports reported that boxing legend and WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson and WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair filed a federal lawsuit last week before The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against several former Carma executives over allegations of fraud, breach of contract, and other claims related to wrongful use of Flair and Tyson’s likenesses.

In the filing, Flair, Tyson, and cannabis companies Carma and LGNDS alleged that Chad Bronstein, Adam Wilks, Nicole Cosby, and James Case participated in “brazen R.I.C.O. conspiracy involving criminal wire fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and extortion, as well as securities fraud and shameless self-dealing that enriched the Defendants to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.”

The filing also claimed that Bronstein, Wilks, and Cosby had sold licensing rights that were not allowed to be sold under the agreements with Flair and Tyson. Wilks is also alleged to have had an undisclosed kickback deal with vape maker DomPen and received “concealed payments in exchange for turning a blind eye to DomPen’s unauthorized use of CARMA’s intellectual property.”

In an official statement to Front Office Sports, Bronstein and Cosby’s attorney Jonathan Cyrluk denied the allegations and claimed that the plaintiffs have tried to intimate his clients with settlement demands.

The complaint is fiction dressed up as a lawsuit. Before filing, the plaintiffs tried to intimidate my clients with settlement demands that read more like a shakedown than a legal claim—demanding millions of dollars and attempting to force others to surrender their Carma shares. My clients won’t be bullied and are prepared to knock out this meritless lawsuit in court.

Wilks’ attorney Terry Campbell also issued an official statement that also denied the allegations.

These claims are as credible as the people they come from—in short, the allegations are without substance. This is nothing more than an attempt to spit out an earful of salacious headlines and attempt to coerce my client into paying money to them when he did nothing wrong. We will fight these meritless allegations—both the facts and the law are squarely on our side.

The filing also claimed that Bronstein and Wilks used CARMA as their “own personal piggy bank” in regards to them using more than $1 million to pay for unauthorized travel on private jets, costs related to Bronstein’s personal yacht, renovations to Bronstein’s personal residence, mortgage payments for Wilks’ residence, and other excessive and unapproved compensation and bonuses.

In regards to Bronstein, he is the co-founder of Real American Freestyle Wrestling along with Terri Francis and the late Terry Bollea, also known as Hulk Hogan.

It was reported that Flair, Tyson, and the cannabis companies are currently seeking a jury trial and more than $50 million in damages, legal fees, and other associated costs.

This is the second notable lawsuit filed against Bronstein and Cosby this year, following the first this past July over allegations of them misappropriating confidential information about a beer development brand related to Hogan and Real American Beer. The defendants had filed to dismiss the lawsuit but as of Tuesday, this lawsuit is still on-going.