A former chief financial officer of Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (CSE: TRUL) has become the target of a lawsuit after allegedly spending up to US$400,000 of company funds on luxurious personal expenses.
Sources reported this week that Alex D’Amico visited Legoland, bought new glasses from Pearle Vision, went clothes shopping at high-end retailers and a variety of other things while fudging the numbers to try and make it look like business-related expenses.
He not only went on a shopping spree with his company credit card, but then tried to seek reimbursements through the company’s expense management system. D’Amico served as Trulieve’s CFO between 2020 and June last year when he resigned over the company becoming aware of his actions.
“Throughout his tenure as CFO, D’Amico surreptitiously acted as though his position entitled him to raid the corporate coffers to finance his personal largesse as if it were his own personal slush fund,” the lawsuit said. “His actions are particularly egregious in light of his position as chief financial officer.”
He has also been accused of using thousands of Trulieve’s dollars to pay his personal attorney’s retainer. Furthermore, he allegedly spent US$24,000 on some sort of executive training program that he was never authorized for.
“Mr. D’Amico engaged in conduct that was inconsistent with the company’s policies and procedures by both submitting expense reimbursements for personal expenses as well as utilizing corporate credit cards for personal expenses,” Trulieve said in a financial report last fall prior to the lawsuit.
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New CFO quit after just 10 days
Tim Mullany abruptly left his role with Trulieve for personal reasons shortly after he started in July. He is now working at the financial firm Tide Rock. Mullany served as CFO for the fast food chain Jack in the Box (Nasdaq: JACK) in 2022.
The company’s Vice President of Finance Ryan Blust stepped in as interim CFO prior to Wes Getman taking the role in January.
“Cannabis is an exciting and dynamic industry and Trulieve is incredibly well positioned for the coming wave of growth catalysts,” Getman said. He’s had an extensive career in finance.
Trulieve just opened two new pot shops in its home state of Florida. They are located in Pinellas Park and Palm Beach.
The company opened 17 dispensaries last year and now has 194 locations throughout the United States.
rowan@mugglehead.com
