Posted December 17, 2014
The
Alabama Securities Commission has indicted James Albert Lawhorne and Jacqueline
Wilson in multiple counts of stock fraud, according to an article by Alabama
Media Group available here.
WAFF also published an article available here.
Lawhorne
was arrested in Tennessee, and his bond has been set at $600,000.
Wilson
turned herself in to authorities, and she was released after posting an $80,000
bond.
James
Lawhorne faces 24 charges,
including theft by deception, misrepresentation of sale, and sale of
unregistered securities, according to WAFF.
The pair
attempted to attract investors to the business, Cypress Creek Organic Farms,
with a claim that the farm would provide all testing, materials, supplies,
equipment, training, and support for growing organic tomatoes. Additionally, Lawhorne
would provide “USDA organic certification and a guaranteed buyback of the
produce," according to Alabama
Media Group.
Lawhorne
and Wilson previously defend their Better Business Bureau F-rating in an
interview available on WAFF’s site here.
The pair
is also tied to another business in North Carolina known as Wormz Organic.
For more information on agricultural finance and credit,
please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
