ALTON - Alton Dispensary President and CEO Jeremy Wysocki announced the dispensary is looking to relocate at the Alton City Council meeting on Wednesday. He also shared new details about the nearly $2 million theft of funds and product by their former management company which resulted in contract termination, retaliation, a lawsuit, and a 10-day shutdown of the dispensary.
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After suing former management group Subsero Alton Ops LLC for misappropriating $1.8 million in company funds and more, the dispensary was forced to shut down for 10 days while they restructured and eventually reopened. While it would seem the business had finally found its footing again, Wysocki said they’ve “grown tired of the constant barrage and attack we’ve been under.”
“Unfortunately, our company was required to file a lawsuit against [Subsero] for fraud and other misconduct in connection with their misappropriation of approximately $140,000 in marijuana product that they moved over to a location in Moline and sold out of that location - and in addition to that, $1.8 million in our company bank account that was unaccounted for,” Wysocki said.
“Quite frankly, when our group stepped in and terminated that Management Services Agreement, they retaliated against our staff and our company by launching a cyberattack by preventing us from utilizing our point-of-sale system. They backdoor accessed our cameras and they were engaging in eavesdropping on our employees."
During the 10 days the dispensary was shut down, Wysocki said they paid their employees the wages that they would have earned had the business been open during that time. This is despite the fact he said Subsero failed to pay his employees their final wage cycle and also failed to pay “well over six figures” worth of sales tax. Not only did Wysocki’s management group pay the entirety of their employees' wages, but they also paid the sales tax.
“Many of our employees - of which we have about 30 employees, including some independent contractors that provide security services - are minorities, and they’re single women that are in public housing, and I refuse to fail them,” Wysocki said. “We, quite frankly, have grown tired of the constant barrage and attack that we’ve been under, and we are looking to relocate our business to a new location.”
He said under current Alton law, dispensaries are required to operate in districts zoned E-2. While they have a new building in mind, it’s currently zoned E-5, so they’re “very hopeful” the City Council will pass an ordinance allowing dispensaries to be located in E-5 districts.
“We have a lot of families that are quite frankly dependent upon us, and my wife and I have grown to love the Alton community,” Wysocki said. “I’m here today to address you on behalf of my family, and what has grown to be my family - our various employees, who I truly view as family members at this point.”
A full recording of the Alton City Council meeting, including Wysocki’s entire public comment, is available at the top of this story, on the Riverbender.com Facebook page, or on Riverbender.com/video.
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