JuicyFields: A Simple Proposition Gone Terribly Wrong

It seemed a simple proposition – perhaps too simple. Juicy Fields, a cannabis investment platform, launched in 2020, allowed trading in both conventional and crypto funds without the background checks typically required for investment banking transactions.

What it turned out to be was an international Ponzi scheme of international proportions that came tumbling down in July 2022, with millions, if not billions, of unwitting investor money with it.

It’s a complex situation, and the more one looks into it, more red flags arise – but as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Swedish attorney and CEO of PRIO Startup Ltd., Lars Olofsson, places partial blame for the mess on international banking systems, because several transactions generated by the JuicyFields platform should have triggered institutional systems that detect suspicious activity.

Now Olofsson is preparing to take the “facilitators” of the scheme – including social and news organizations such as Facebook, Instagram and CNN, among others – to court in an effort to hold someone responsible for the situation.

“I’m now taking legal actions against Facebook, Instagram, Forbes, Google, CNN, and YouTube, to begin with,” Olofsson told Green Market Report. “All of them have allowed Juicy Fields to expose themselves on their platforms or magazines, and not just normal accounts but paid ads.”

Olofsson also plans to go after the government agencies in Cyprus, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland for failing to recognize the red flags.

In this exclusive series, Joanne Cachapero dug into the situation to uncover just how twisted the scheme really was, including:

• Who benefited from the massive investment pool
• Why the government agencies failed to act earlier on the “obvious scam”
• The role played by social and news media
• New EU regulations designed to prevent another situation of this magnitude

The situation is far from over, but Olofsson’s work can serve as a wake-up call for an industry that is steadily increasing investment opportunities around the globe.

Dive into the details below:

• JuicyFields Ponzi Scheme Highlights Many Points of Failure
• Swedish Attorney to Sue Social, News Media for JuicyFields Scam
• A JuicyFields Primer