CHARLOTTE — The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused prominent Charlotte businessman Marty Sumichrast of fraud and self-dealing transactions during the three years he managed the Stone Street Partners private fund.
The suit filed by the SEC Wednesday seeks to have civil penalties and “disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains” that according to details in the suit could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. It also seeks to bar Sumichrast from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company.
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Sumichrast, 55, resigned as CEO of Adara Acquisition, a special purchase acquisition company he started with local partners in 2021, immediately after the SEC action was filed. He has been replaced by Tom Finke, a board member and one of the original Adara partners.
He remains as chairman and CEO of cbdMD Inc., a Charlotte manufacturer of hemp-based consumer health products, that went public in 2018. The board announced Monday its “directors has formed a special committee of independent directors to review the SEC action to evaluate the consequences on the company, if any, and, together with counsel, promptly recommend an appropriate course of action to the board.”
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