Marijuana company Cura Cannabis is involved in the alleged Iris fraud and sold for $400 million. Portland attorney Nick Slinde was a part of the deal and retained a stake in the business as payment for representing Iris. Attorney Slinde is now facing new allegations that he hid his role in the deal. The attorney is said to be front and center in an Oregon real estate scam where his client was reaping millions of dollars from investors’ whoes money was being redirected into a marijuana business in which Slinde owned a stake.
Slinde is a co-founder at Slinde Nelson, a boutique business and real estate law firm with a dozen attorneys in Portland. His own attorney emphatically rejected the allegations and any wrongdoings, urging the bar to wrap up its inquiry.
Iris Capital is the investment fund that created the scandal. The bill for Oregon retirees is $1 million taken from their savings. The bar association has been investigating Slinde since 2019. The bar’s investigation of Slinde began when a complaint was filed against him alleging that Slinde, as Iris’ attorney, had a conflict of interest when he negotiated a 2014 settlement over a dispute Iris had with developer Sean Keys.
Slinde and his law partner owned about 10% of Cura’s shares, according to state records. That sum is worth approximately $40 million. Allegedly, Slinde failed to turn over documents that could have helped the receiver negotiate a larger settlement for the retirees. Slinde has never faced discipline in 22 years as an Oregon lawyer.
One marijuana startup that emerged from Iris was originally called Terwilliger Partners, backed with money from Iris investors. Terwilliger later became Cura Cannabis, also known as Select.
Curaleaf subsequently endured a significant decline in its share price, and the all-stock deal for the Portland company was worth just around $400 million when it closed in February 2020.
