Stakeholders fight over Colorado cannabis company’s assets after operation’s demise
- Stakeholders are still in court battling over a settlement deal connected to the bankruptcy of Two Rivers Water & Farming Co. filed six years ago.
- A judge approved a $1.5 million settlement deal and $500,000 in attorneys fees in March 2023.
- CEO John McKowen's efforts to pay the settlement are hindered by claims filed by Greg Harrington, who asserts he is the manager of Two Rivers.
- McKowen accuses Harrington of being a "sophisticated grifter" using "fraudulent means" to gain control of the company, and is asking the court to dismiss Harrington's claims so that former investors can be paid.
Six years after Colorado marijuana company Two Rivers Water & Farming Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, stakeholders are still battling in court over a settlement deal with investors and a claim by a supposed manager who’s now accused of attempted theft in a recent filing.
At issue is a $1.5 million settlement deal and an additional $500,000 in attorneys fees connected to the demise of Two Rivers in 2019, a deal that was given the thumbs up by a judge in March 2023, Law360 reported.
Two Rivers CEO John McKowen’s efforts to pay the settlement ran up against a roadblock, however, after Greg Harrington – who claims in court documents to be the manager of Two Rivers – filed his own claims in bankruptcy court against the company this past May, Law360 reported.
The claims by Harrington have prevented McKowen from foreclosing on and selling a Two Rivers property in order to finalize the investor settlement deal, McKowen asserted in a court filing this week. McKowen asked the court to dismiss Harrington’s claims, so that former investors in Two Rivers can get paid.
McKowen in a motion dubbed Harrington a “sophisticated grifter who through smoke & mirrors has cultivated a deceptive facade of financial strength and competence,” adding that the supposed manager is “adept at maneuvering and twisting legal processes for his personal benefit.”
Furthermore, McKowen asserted, Harrington was only able to gain control of Two Rivers through “fraudulent means,” Law360 reported, and is trying to salvage what he can from a subsidiary of the business, a firm called GrowCo, which was a point of contention in the original investor class action suit that McKowen is trying to pay.
McKowen is asking a federal court in Colorado to set aside Harrington’s bankruptcy claims and issue an order allowing him to sell the GrowCo property, which is part of the settlement deal with Two Rivers investors, Law360 reported.