WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — According to documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) received a financial fraud case from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on August 6, 2025. The case was opened after people said they had invested with a man who said he was opening cannabis stores. The investors’ own investigation led them to believe there were no stores opened.
Court documents said the 46-year-old suspect had been receiving payments from investors from as far back as 2020. The suspect had provided investors some investment profit payments but did not make the investments as promised. Instead, he “appeared to spend money on personal luxuries. including car upgrades, stereos, and hundred of pairs of shoes.”
Investigators researched addresses given for the stores and found the addresses were for private residences, vacant lots or did not exist. The suspect’s reported office suite in downtown Bellingham did not exist. The company the suspect claimed to work for denied he was an employee.
The total amount invested in the reportedly fraudulent investments was $390,500.
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The suspect was questioned, arrested and booked into Whatcom County Jail on September 30, 2025. A $10,000 cash bail was posted and he was released from custody on October 2, 2025.
He faces the following charges in court.
- 5 counts of 1st-degree theft exceeding $5,000
- 5 counts of money laundering
- use of proceeds from criminal profiteering
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