PHOENIX — A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled in favor an Arizona dispensary operator, ending an attempt to essentially steal its license.
The case centered on Moe Asnani and Chip Boyden’s attempts to circumvent agreements and take over a dispensary license.
Anavel Vasquez was qualified to be the majority owner of an entity applying for a marijuana establishment license, under a social equity ownership program implemented by the Arizona Department of Health Services as part of the laws legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana in Arizona in 2020.
Vasquez didn’t have the know-how or the means ($4,000 per application) to apply for a social equity license and agreed to work with investors Helping Handz LLC and Investing in the Future LLC. They handled all financial and logistical aspects of the application process in return for a minority stake in the entity applying for the license, Juicy Joint I LLC. Vasquez agreed to own and operate a dispensary under this agreed-upon business structure. Mike Halow, the manager of Helping Handz and Investing in the Future, has devoted significant time, effort and resources assisting Vasquez and others in similar situations in navigating this process.
When the social equity licenses were awarded in 2022, Asnani and Boyden targeted people like Vasquez to abandon their business relationships to do business with them. They convinced Vasquez to abandon her business relationship with her Juicy Joint co-members and do business with them. In exchange she would get $2.7 million and a 51% interest in the entity, MENVAS22 LLC, to which the license awarded was ultimately transferred. Asnani and Boyden apparently represented to Vasquez that she didn’t need to tell her Juicy Joint co-members about the deal and that she could pocket all of the money for herself.
Helping Handz and Investing in the Future took legal action. The case went to arbitration, in which Vasquez was ultimately expelled from Juicy Joint for breaching contractual and fiduciary duties. Based on the findings in the Arbitration, the Arizona Department of Health Services also restored the license in Juicy Joint’s name.
An October 4, 2024 ruling from Maricopa County Superior Court reflects the Court’s independent agreement with the decisions in arbitration. The ruling states in part: “… because Ms. Vasquez breached her contractual and fiduciary duties owed to one or more of the Non-State Defendants relative to the License, and because Ms. Vasquez’ knowledge was imputed to Menvas at the time of the breach, Menvas has no rights to the License.” The ruling also backs up a decision from ADHS to return the license to Juicy Joint. “The Arbitration Award contained a reasoned and thoroughly detailed decision which plainly explained how Ms. Vasquez breached her contractual and fiduciary duties owed with respect to the License. There is no genuine issue of material fact that AZDHS did not act arbitrarily or capriciously, and a writ of mandamus cannot issue based on these theories.”
Asnani had also tried to derail Arizona’s successful social equity dispensary license program.
A lobbyist associated with Asnani supported legislation to strip all current holders of social equity licenses and put the licenses back under the control of the original majority owners (such as Vasquez). That legislation failed, despite Asnani’s substantial political contributions to several elected officials including Governor Katie Hobbs.
Asnani had also convinced multiple media outlets to blindly repeat narratives now rejected by arbitration and Maricopa County Superior Court. The articles failed to put the blame where it belongs, with Asnani and Boyden.
“Moe Asnani has repeatedly tried to portray Ms. Vasquez as a victim of the courts and Arizona’s social equity program. In reality, Ms. Vasquez fell victim to Asnani and promises he could not keep,” said Mike Halow.
Halow plans to move forward and continue helping those who qualify for social equity licenses realize their dreams. He has assisted a number of social equity applicants in several states including Arizona who have since launched or operated profitable and successful businesses.
“This case was never about any perceived problems with the social equity licensing system. It was about an outlandish attempt to steal a dispensary license. Thankfully the courts have brought this to a sane resolution,” Halow added.
