Tax havens finance firms of pot canadian

Photo Martin Alarie

Annabelle Blais and
Jean-François Cloutier

Monday, 22 January 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Monday, 22 January 2018 01:00

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Wealthy anonymous investors to tax havens have wagered at least $ 165 million in pot growers authorized for use in Canada, discovered our Bureau of investigation.

Cayman islands, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Aruba, Curacao, Malta, Barbados, Isle of Man, british Virgin Islands, Marshall Islands, Seychelles, Panama, Luxembourg ; it does not seem to be any places that are too little populated or too far away to resist the lure of the pot of canadian.

In all, 35 of the 86 producers authorized by Health Canada, 40% of them, have benefited from funding offshore in the past two years, according to financial documents consulted.

Among them, we find a firm pot administered by Alain Dubuc, columnist, La Presse, and Martin Cauchon, owner of newspapers.

This kind of private investment is restricted to investors with deep pockets, which should, in general, have net assets of at least $5 million.

Investors hidden

None of the producers of pot has not agreed to reveal the identity of these mysterious investors. Most have simply declined our interview requests.

“We don’t know who is behind these investments, and it does not eliminate the possibility that organized crime is involved,” acknowledged the professor, Ken Lester, president of Lester Asset Management and assistant professor at the Faculty of management, McGill University.

However, according to him, the industry ” knows that she must be without spot because it is scrutinized by the whole world “.

According to Sylvain Théberge, a spokesperson for the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the general public does not have the right to know the identity of the investors located in tax havens.

“This information remains […] confidential “, we have-t-he writes. According to Mr. Thompson, the AMF has an internal name of companies in tax havens who invest in them. But it does not always which are the real owners of these companies.

Many americans

Why the pot canada raises there so much interest among investors ? Cam Battley, VP at the pot grower in alberta, Aurora, explains that only producers canadian or australian are listed on the stock Exchange.

“Canada is ahead of the legalization, and our businesses are well-established, then an investor who wants to participate in this industry which is growing very quickly, it is in Canada that it is happening. “

His company, which has facilities in Pointe-Claire, island of Montreal, has received $ 32.5 million from the Cayman Islands, a tax haven well known. For some time, Mr. Battley multiplies the presentations to investors in the United States and Europe.

“Behind these offshore, there are also many Americans. […] Invest the public money, such as pension funds, in the cannabis seems wrong and would violate certain restrictions of ethical the United States where cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, ” stresses Ken Lester.

It is not clear how much investors offshore will have to pay the canadian tax authorities when selling action, or the payment of interest. But one thing is certain, tax havens used to invest in the pot have tax rates of zero or very low profits.

It targets First Nations

The ontario-based company 48 North, including Martin Cauchon, and Alain Dubuc are directors, taking on more than$ 3 Million from the tax haven of the british Virgin Islands. But it has also the feature to bet a lot on the funding of aboriginal communities.

Photo archive, Martin Knight

Martin Cauchon, chair of the board of 48 North

In recent months, the company has multiplied the meetings with indigenous communities to invite them to invest, as reported in The Duty.

Its president and chief executive officer Alison Gordon has confirmed that 18 % of the company’s shares from investors from 49 First Nations communities across Canada.

For the moment, there is no culture of cannabis in the communities of their investors, but 48 North does not exclude the possibility to do so in the future.

Two influencers on the CA

The former liberal minister Martin Cauchon, who chairs the board of directors of 48 North, is also the chairman of capital media. This news group has the regional dailies Le Soleil, Le Nouvelliste, The Law, The Tribune, The Daily newspaper and The Voice of the East.

Photo courtesy of HEC Montréal

Alain Dubuc, administrator 48 North

In 2003, when he was the minister of Justice at the federal level, Mr. Cauchon had filed a bill to decriminalize marijuana, but the government had finally decided to put it all on the ice. The ex-minister refused to grant us an interview.

The columnist of La Presse, Alain Dubuc also serves on the board of 48 North since 2014. “This personal involvement made it impossible for me to write or speak in public on issues related to cannabis to avoid placing myself in a situation of conflict of interest “, we he wrote in an email.

However, twice in 2017, Mr. Dubuc spoke about the legalization of cannabis to the Radio-Canada television not to mention his interests. “I find that it gives too much energy to this debate, and there has been a tendency to exaggerate the consequences and worry for nothing,” he said in December during a review of the important issues of the year.

They have taken advantage of offshore funds

ABCANN GLOBAL

• Cayman Islands :$12.4 Million
• Guernsey : 150 000 $

AURORA CANNABIS

• Cayman Islands :$32.5 Million
• Barbados : 202 500 $

CANNTRUST HOLDINGS

• Cayman Islands :$2 Million
• Bahamas : 549 000 $
• Switzerland : 110 000 $
• Belize : us $50,000
• Channel Islands : 75 000 $

SUPREME CANNABIS CORPORATION

• Switzerland : 100 000 $
• Belize : 100 000 $
• Bahamas : 130 000 $
• Cayman Islands :$10.5 Million
• Guernsey : 366 000 $
• United arab emirates : 25 000 $

CANNABIS WHEATON INCOME CORP

• Singapore : 10 000 $
• Cayman Islands :$20.5 M
• Switzerland : 20 000 $

HYDROPOTHECARY

• Cayman Islands :$15 Million
• United arab emirates : 700 000 $
• Bahamas : 751 500 $

DELSHEN THERAPEUTICS (48 North)

• British Virgin islands :$3 Million
• Switzerland : 200 000 $

CRONOS GROUP

• Singapore : 225 000 $

NEWSTRIKE RESOURCES

• Bahamas : 47 500 $
• Singapore : 70 000 $
• Switzerland : 24 400 $

EMBLEM CANNABIS CORP

• Panama : 200 000 $
• Switzerland : 188 650 $
• Bahamas : 308 550 $
• Cayman Islands :$8.3 Million
• Dominique : 47 190 $
• Belize : 40 250 $
• British Virgin islands : 21 275 $
• Isle of Man : 57 500 $
• Luxembourg : 69 000 $

GOLDEN LEAF HOLDING

• Bahamas : 308 000 $
• Cayman Islands :$5.7 M

INVICTUS MD

• Seychelles : 765 000 $
• Cayman Islands : 14,13 M$
• Switzerland : us $27,000
• Luxembourg : 78 750 $
• United arab emirates : 10 500 $

MARICANN GROUP

• Cayman Islands : 9,76 M$
• Bahamas : 50 000 $

THE GREEN ORGANIC DUTCHMAN

• Singapore : 9900 $
• Hong Kong : 47 850 $
• Barbados : 99 825 $
• Bermuda : 115 500 $
• Cayman Islands : 553 000 $
• Monaco : 34 980 $
• United arab emirates : 24 750 $
• Dominique : 123 750 $
• Luxembourg : 23 098 $
• Switzerland : 50 000 $
• Curacao : 11 500 $
• Aruba : 5750 $
• Panama : 80 500 $
• Malta : 10 000 $
• British Virgin islands : 10 000 $
• Belize : 75 000 $
• Marshall Islands : 10 000 $

HARVEST ONE CANNABIS

• Cayman Islands : 4,37 M$
• Luxembourg : 600 000 $
• Belize : 99 750 $
• Bahamas : 225 000 $
• Hong Kong : 499 999 $

WEEDMD

• Cayman Islands : 2,28 M$
• Bahamas : 25 000 $

DELTA 9 BIOTECH

• Belize : 22 000 $
• Cayman Islands : 25 000 $
• Singapore : 300 000 $

DOJA CANNABIS

• Cayman Islands :$12.5 M
• Bahamas : 70 000 $

INDIVA LIMITED

• Cayman Islands : 199 500 $

FV PHARMA

• Panama : 50 000 $
• Malta : 50 000 $
• Hong Kong :$2 Million
• Belize : us $50,000
• Bahamas : 10 000 $

SUNDIAL GROWERS

• Bermuda : 540 000 $

TOTAL FUNDS OFFSHORE : 165.2 MILLION $