Green Eco, LLC, a California-based company, has filed a lawsuit against NTZ, Inc., TCG Fund Management Group LLC, and United Property Solutions, Inc., accusing them of fraud and other unlawful practices. The complaint was lodged in the Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Clara on November 15, 2024. Green Eco claims that these defendants engaged in deceitful business practices during negotiations over a significant cannabis business acquisition.
The plaintiff, Green Eco, LLC, asserts that it entered into negotiations to purchase cannabis-related licenses from NTZ tied to a San Jose location. On May 20, 2024, Green Eco paid $250,000 as part of this deal. However, the payment was later categorized by TCG Fund Management as a non-refundable deposit rather than an installment towards purchasing the licenses. Green Eco did not agree with this change and refused to sign any documents confirming such terms. They argue that TCG's proposed transaction structure was convoluted and unacceptable because it involved paying over two million dollars for licenses they would not own directly.
Green Eco further alleges that TCG introduced another party named Blum into the negotiations in August 2024 to purchase a retail license component of the deal. Through due diligence conducted jointly with Blum, Green Eco discovered several material issues including NTZ's accounting inconsistencies and excessive rent demands. Despite efforts to negotiate better terms through Blum’s leadership with NTZ representatives and landlords, TCG allegedly sabotaged these discussions by threatening all parties involved once they learned about a new binding term sheet excluding them.
In their complaint, Green Eco accuses the defendants of multiple legal violations including fraud/intentional misrepresentation and conversion for withholding their $250,000 payment without proceeding with the agreed transaction or returning funds. They also claim breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing due to defendants' failure to negotiate honestly and interference with prospective economic advantage by disrupting potential agreements between Green Eco and other parties.
Green Eco seeks various forms of relief from the court including general damages for each cause where applicable; statutory penalties; punitive damages due to malicious intent; declaratory relief; interest on awarded damages; attorney fees; and any additional relief deemed just by the court.
Representing Green Eco is attorney Sarah M. Okdie from Eight Bridges Law Group LLP while Judge P. Hernandez presides over case number 24CV451816 at Santa Clara County Superior Court.