A Bloomberg deep dive into the background of a mysterious Florida equity firm tied to the Trump Media & Technology Group revealed a company that has also backed technology that allows cash to be transferred without using banks. Trump Media & Technology Group is currently facing both federal and state investigations.
In June, the New York Times reported that Digital World Acquisition made an 8-K filing that revealed it was "aware that a federal grand jury sitting in the Southern District of New York has issued subpoenas to each member of Digital World’s board of directors," and that led to "requests relating to Digital World’s S-1 filings, communications with or about multiple individuals, and information regarding Rocket One Capital."
According to Bloomberg, there is little known about Rocket One but the report did note that Bruce Garelick, Rocket One’s chief investment officer, also sits on Digital World's board.
Notably, Bloomberg reports, Garelick resigned from Digital World on June 22 after the directors were subpoenaed on June 16 -- and he was the only who has stepped down to date.
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Stating up-front that there are no allegations of wrongdoing levied against Rocket One and Garelick, Bloomberg's Tiffany Kary was able to put two and two together and ascertain that Garelick and Rocket One's CEO are "closely involved with a technology known as cashless ATMs."
As Kary explained, "Such software, which resides on point-of-sale devices, helps cannabis dispensaries work around the banks that want to avoid transacting with them due to the federal illegality of marijuana. That has created a legal gray area that has drawn scrutiny from credit-card processors," before cautioning, "There’s no indication that the grand jury’s questions about Rocket One have anything to do with the cashless-ATM business."
Adding that Michael Shvartsman, who has been identified as previously having served as CEO and founder of Rocket One Capital is also a director or officer of Transact First, the Bloomberg report adds that their extensive "investigation into cashless ATMs found that multiple cannabis industry participants describe Transact First as a major provider of such transactions, and Shvartsman as the main representative for Transact First."
The report notes that Shvartsman declined to comment when asked about the story.
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