$2.5 Million Lawsuit Filed by Connecticut Officials for Cannabis License-for-Sale Fraud

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Connecticut officials have filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against “MAKECTBETTER LLC, its principal Michael Tedesco of Fairfield, and affiliate Zafir Iqbal of Oakdale alleging a fraudulent cannabis license-for-sale scheme involving forged documents and tens of thousands of dollars in payments from upwards of 70 businesses,” (1).

With the lawsuit, filed in the Hartford Superior Court by Attorney General William Tong, he asked for the defendant’s assets to be frozen. The Attorney General’s press release (1) claims that the fraudulent cannabis license-for-sale scheme involved “forged documents and tens of thousands of dollars in payments from upwards of 70 businesses.” By freezing the defendant’s assets, it will stop them from “offloading or shifting resources to evade accountability,” (1).

In the complaint (1,2), it mentions that the defendants were not honest with Connecticut retailers and claimed to be a part of a state “pilot program” which was fictionalized. With the program, MAKECTBETTER LLC said that they were “authorized” to sell cannabis supply and cannabis licenses (1). Connecticut does not have a program like the one the company claims to be a part of. Documents looking to be issued from the Department of Consumer Protection were forged, as well as having an apparent signature by an official from the Office of the Attorney General. The complaint states (2) that the “Defendants do not have, and have never had, the authority to obtain cannabis establishment licenses from the Department on behalf of retailers, nor have they had any reasonable basis to believe, or to represent to others, that they had such authority; and Defendants do not have any relevant relationship with genuinely licensed Connecticut cannabis establishments.”

The press release mentioned (1) that, “Iqbal has claimed to have entered into such agreements with approximately 35 businesses, charging $25,000 to $30,000 each. Tedesco has boasted that as many as 70 businesses have entered into such agreements.”

“This was a brazen scam to extract tens of thousands of dollars from Connecticut retailers based on false promises and forged documents. But let’s be clear—no one can pretend to be an agent of the Office of the Attorney General and get away with it. We’re suing and moving to freeze $2.5 million in assets based on the unassailable evidence in our case, and the extreme lawlessness of their misconduct,” said Attorney General Tong (1).

“This scam targeted business owners who thought they were following the law by obtaining a license to sell cannabis, but cannabis licenses can only be issued by the Department of Consumer Protection,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli (1). “All information about the licensing process can be found at ct.gov/cannabis, and if you are uncertain, you can always call or email our office to confirm if an ‘opportunity’ is a scam. Impersonating our agency or the Office of the Attorney General to scam businesses out of thousands of dollars and then bragging about it is reprehensible.”

Areas specifically mentioned in the complaint filed include New Haven, Manchester, and New Milford (1,2).

“Cannabis products in Connecticut cannot be sold by unlicensed retailers and must meet rigorous testing and packaging requirements. The Office of the Attorney General works closely with local law enforcement and state partners, including the Department of Consumer Protection and State Police, to investigate and hold accountable bad actors who sell illegal, unregulated, untested cannabis products,” the Attorney General’s press release mentioned (1). “Enforcement actions have resulted in seizure of hundreds of pounds of illegal cannabis products, including potent edibles that look like common snacks and candies.”

Assisting the Attorney General with this lawsuit will be Assistant Attorneys General Joseph Gasser and Jonathan Blake, who will work under the supervision of Deputy Associate Attorney General Michael Wertheimer, Chief of the Consumer Protection Section (1).

References

1. Attorney general Tong seeks 2 5 million prejudgment remedy https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2025-press-releases/attorney-general-tong-seeks-2-5-million-prejudgment-remedy (accessed Jul 30, 2025).
2. MAKECTBETTER Lawsuit https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/press_releases/2025/makectbetter-lawsuit.pdf (accessed Jul 30, 2025).