Former Charlotte CEO reaches settlement with SEC in fraud, self-dealing lawsuit

CHARLOTTE — Marty Sumichrast, former CEO of cbdMD Inc. and Adara Acquisition Corp., has reached a settlement to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $350,000 to resolve a lawsuit accusing him of fraud and self-dealing. The SEC brought the accusations in 2022 related to Sumichrast’s leadership of Stone Street Partners.

The SEC filed a motion April 25 with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of N.C. to approve the settlement. The settlement is still subject to court approval.

The SEC’s initial complaint accused Sumichrast of engaging “in a series of undisclosed and fraudulent conflict-of-interest transactions” while leading Stone Street. Sumichrast previously denied the SEC’s allegations. He said he “never received ill-gotten gains” in a 2022 court filing responding to the SEC’s initial complaint.

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