LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- P. Vincent Mehdizadeh, Pineapple Express, Inc. [PNPL] Co-Founder, announced today that he has issued a letter to PNPL shareholders. The letter stated as follows:
“Over the last few years I have been the subject of an SEC investigation surrounding a prior venture, Medbox, Inc. during 2012-2014. I had nothing to hide so I diligently cooperated with the SEC at all times during the investigation and disclosed all my emails and also gave testimony. What it demonstrated was that after Medbox stock became popular on Wall Street and that company's market value and my personal net worth exploded to over a billion dollars, I received bad advice from the company's attorney at that time, which I detrimentally relied on and that was harmful. Although I facilitated Medbox transitioning to competent counsel during my tenure at that company, the damage was already done and then amplified by a self-interested board member at Medbox that saw an opportunity in all the commotion. I have candidly detailed this in an autobiography published earlier this year. Regardless of my valid defense in relying on an attorney's advice, time and money has been spent investigating the matter and I have become a target for any alleged missteps Medbox's accountants, CFO, and auditor may have made, which was both caused and worsened by the incompetent attorney's advice. I am now in the process of resolving these matters with the SEC.
Given the Medbox circumstances and a curious trading suspension handed down by the SEC on PNPL securities, it appears that any venture that I'm actively involved with may be targeted unjustly. As a result, I chose to have the current venture I co-founded, Pineapple Express, Inc. [PNPL], have a fair chance at succeeding like I know it can. Thus, my retirement from any and all consulting and advisory services to public companies became effective as of a few weeks ago and is to remain intact indefinitely. Prior to my consulting role ending, I was told by management that Pineapple Express will be shifting talent internally to carry my torch and launch the patent-pending and first-of-its-kind 'Top-Shelf' - SDS (Safe & Display System) that I invented in 2015. I am fully supportive of the company marketing and selling my latest, and what I consider to be my greatest invention, to date.
Also, I have decided to retire/cancel 1 million of my beneficially owned PNPL preferred shares that were held in a trust along with the common shares of PNPL I beneficially own. The preferred shares that are being retired are convertible to 10 million common shares. The result of the share retirement will benefit all shareholders of Pineapple Express by lowering the fully diluted issued and outstanding share count for the company. As stated in prior Pineapple Express announcements, all my beneficially owned PNPL shares are held in trust and I have no voting authority over those shares, which is a decision I made long ago to guard the company against any negative treatment due to my controversial past. I have now further separated from the company by formally retiring from any and all public company advisory and consulting activities.
I believe that Pineapple Express was built from the ground up with the best and most credible business model in the legal cannabis sector and I foresee a bright future for the company. I will be proudly watching from a distance. I want to thank everyone that has helped me achieve success in my business pursuits over the years with a special thank you to my family and friends for always believing in me. I have had an amazing life journey where I helped create immense value from scratch in two incredible ventures that I am proud of. The experiences I had at Medbox helped the new venture, Pineapple Express, navigate appropriately in the no longer ‘uncharted’ public company territory that once existed in the legal cannabis industry.
Needless to say, I am not speaking on behalf of Pineapple Express, Inc. I am simply sharing my individual comments, informing the public of my retirement from public company consulting and advisory activities, and also notifying the public about my retirement and cancellation of my preferred shares of PNPL."
About P. Vincent Mehdizadeh
Mr. Mehdizadeh is arguably an expert in the legal cannabis industry and is the inventor of the patent-pending “Top-Shelf” SDS (Safe & Display System) exclusively being developed for Pineapple Express.
Mr. Mehdizadeh has been actively involved as a consultant in the legal cannabis industry for nearly a decade and has also furthered the industry through donations and funding of educational campaigns. Mehdizadeh was responsible for funding and the creation of the Marijuana Policy Project “Consume Responsibly” campaign, as well as the Americans For Safe Access “Medicate Responsibly” campaign aimed at educating medical and recreational cannabis users in the states that allow consumption of cannabis about its health effects and dosage information. Mehdizadeh has donated over $2 million dollars to Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Mr. Mehdizadeh published an autobiography in February 2016 entitled ‘Huma Rising’ and currently available on Amazon. All sales proceeds of the book have been pledged to charity.