World

Former UCLA Track Star Gets Over 17 Years In Prison For Defrauding Weed Investors Of More Than $35 Million: DOJ

Photo by Getty Images

Gabriel Beldea Contributor
Font Size:

Former University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) track star David Bunevacz was sentenced to 17.5 years of prison Monday for defrauding cannabis investors, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Bunevacz, 53, is suspected of having taken advantage of investors who paid for his house facilities, such as horses and designer garments in Calabasas, California, CBS News reported, citing the DOJ.

Bunevacz is accused of collecting money from the victims and falsely telling them it would be used to fund companies that sold cannabis vape pens, according to the DOJ. The alleged scheme dates back to 2010, when Bunevacz began establishing companies such as CB Holding Group Corp. and Caesarbrutus LLC and alleging the entities were connected to the weed industry, the DOJ’s release continued. (RELATED: Are Vaping Teenagers Turning To Marijuana?)

The former athlete registered a variety of shell companies, using the names of actual cannabis companies for some, in order to create the false impression that his companies were engaged in legal business activities, according to the DOJ. Bunevacz assigned many of his relatives, such as his stepdaughter, high-ranking positions in the shell companies to cover up the control he had over the entities, the DOJ continued.

Bunevacz had one felony conviction for unlawful sale of securities from 2017, according to an affidavit cited by the DOJ. Bunevacz emailed a counterfeit version of a settlement agreement to make it appear as if he had received $325,000 after one investor uncovered the lawsuit against him, according to the DOJ, but it was reportedly Bunevacz who paid this sum to settle the claim.

While living in the Philippines, Bunevacz was allegedly known for being a “peripatetic grifter,” who fled the country after stealing from a cosmetic clinic he operated, according to Yahoo News. Bunevacz also allegedly bought a number of expensive items while in the Philippines, reportedly including a BMW X5 for his wife.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel