A cannabis venture backed by Ice-T and big ambitions in New Jersey has unraveled into a federal fraud lawsuit, with a lender alleging that money meant to build and open a Jersey City dispensary was diverted almost immediately to pay personal debts, cover luxury credit card expenses and prop up a separate California business.
In a complaint filed in federal court in California, AuxoCap JC LLC accuses Charis Burrett, Luke Burrett and The Medicine Woman Group of orchestrating what it describes as a deliberate scheme to misuse a $1.6 million secured working-capital loan. The money, according to the suit, was supposed to be used exclusively for the construction, furnishing and opening of The Medicine Women’s Jersey City dispensary. Instead, the lender alleges, the funds were raided within 24 hours of closing and the business that secured the loan eventually collapsed.
The case is framed not as a routine business failure, but as a lender-fraud action. AuxoCap says it extended the financing in August 2024 on the understanding that the proceeds would be used only for the New Jersey dispensary and not for personal expenses or unrelated ventures. In exchange, the lender says it received a first-priority security interest in all borrower assets and a 20% membership interest in the operating entity…