Two Monmouth County men have been sentenced to prison after participating in a fraud scheme through a cannabis company, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced Wednesday.
Vitaly Fargesen, 54, of Manalapan, and Igor Palatnik, 49, of the Morganville section of Marlboro, were sentenced to 4 years and 6½ in prison, respectively, Williams said. They were sentenced for participating in a fraudulent scheme to defraud investors in CanaFarma Corp. and, later, CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp. by soliciting funds based on false and misleading representations, failing to invest investor funds as promised and secretly misappropriating millions of dollars of CanaFarma funds.
"[This] sentence should serve as a reminder that if you steal from investors and cover up your crimes, you will pay a steep price," said Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.
From around March 2019 to around March 2020, CanaFarma was a privately held Delaware corporation with offices in New York City, Williams said. Beginning approximately March 19, 2020, CanaFarma was listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange, and beginning on or about March 23, 2020, CanaFarma was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
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