Monthly Archives: October 2022

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SEC Files Action Against Former NewAge (Ariix, Morinda) CEO Brent Willis

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According to a SEC Press Release:
Litigation Release No. 25562 / October 18, 2022
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Brent David Willis, No. 1:22-cv-02744 (D. Colo. filed October 18, 2022)
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it filed charges against Brent David Willis.
The former Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of NewAge, Inc. (formerly known as New Age Beverages Corporation), alleging that Willis engaged in a multi-year fraud by disseminating numerous false and misleading press releases and making false public statements concerning NewAge’s business dealings, and aided and abetted NewAge’s disclosure of material information in violation of Regulation FD.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that between 2017 and 2019, Willis, while CEO, both through his role in drafting and authorizing NewAge press releases and in statements he made in earnings calls, investor conferences, and in media interviews and appearances, made numerous false and misleading public statements concerned a wide range of matters material to NewAge’s business.
As alleged, these matters included NewAge’s alleged development of a portfolio of CBD-infused beverages and its purported deals with the U.S. military and several large domestic and international distributors and retailers.
According to the complaint, Willis orchestrated this multiyear fraud and disseminated the false and misleading public statements to create the

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DagCoin Founders Nils Grossberg And Kristjan Ress Arrested In Estonia

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According to digipro.geenius.ee, an online magazine in Estonia, Europe were DagCoin was founded:
2 weeks ago DagCoin founders Nils Grossberg and Kristjan Ress and 2 others were denied bail and remanded into custody for 2 months.
According to an other online source from Estonia, Postimees, (Google Translate):
In the spring of 2018, four Estonian men created an opportunity to acquire the virtual currency dagcoin. Dagcoin was promoted, among other things, through network marketing and sold on trading platforms created for this purpose.
The suspects gave the impression that dagcoin is a virtual currency whose development and sale process is carried out by independent and reliable persons, but it is suspected that the companies related to dagcoin were secretly managed by two of its creators.
District prosecutor Kristiina Laas explained that, according to the suspicion, the men provided false information in order to sell virtual currency. According to him, the price of dagcoin depended on the number of its users – the more people who accept dagcoin as a means of payment, the higher the price.
“Based on the data collected so far in the criminal proceedings, there is a reason to believe that the suspects have artificially increased the price of dagcoin and the number of

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Juice Plus+ Moody’s Downgrades Rating, Outlook Is Negative

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Juice Plus has experienced double digit sales declines in its fiscal year ending April 2022, reflecting declines in sales force and volumes.
Juice Plus continues to invest in IT systems, tools, training, and incentives to drive enrollment, but these investments have not halted the erosion of sales and earnings.
Moody’s is concerned that the company will face difficulty mitigating distributor, revenue and earnings declines because increased hybrid work arrangements create competition for sales consultants that desire work flexibility.
Moody’s projects negative $11 million of free cash flow in the fiscal year ended April 2023. Moody’s believes the cash balance may not be sufficient to fund the free cash flow burn, the $22.5 million of required annual term loan amortization, and repayment of the $7.5 million revolver if the facility is not extended. 

The Moody’s press release:
Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) downgraded JP Intermediate B, LLC’s (dba as The Juice Plus Company, “Juice Plus”) Corporate Family Rating (“CFR”) to Caa1 from B3 and its Probability of Default Rating to Caa1-PD from B3-PD.
Moody’s also downgraded Juice Plus’ first lien senior secured revolving credit facility and term loan ratings to B3 from B2. The rating outlook is negative.
The rating downgrades reflect Moody’s expectation for debt-to-EBITDA (Moody’s adjusted) to

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