David Osegueda Hard Work In Real Estate
In 2010, after about 6 years of hard work in real estate and being fully productive, I started exploring other areas where I could generate additional income while also growing the capital that I had produced from being a realtor.
David Osegueda Success Story
My main objective was to generate additional liquidity to enter into fashion, an industry for which I had always been passionate. For this reason, I believed that the stock market was the solution; hence, I decided to invest in banking institutions such as Citi, BoA, as well as solar energy and other OTC companies also known as penny stocks. It didn’t take more than two years for me to see that over 85% of my savings and investments turned to almost nothing.
The following 3 years were a very wild roller coaster for me while witnessing the violent downswings of my investments. In 2013, after an unsuccessful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for my fashion project, I realized that I was standing in a place entirely different from which I had envisioned myself being 3 years earlier. After a few conversations with my sister, who is a Nutritionist and Dietitian, I became more familiar with the numerous benefits of cannabis, in particular the nutritional and medicinal properties found in CBD which is extracted from the plant hemp; thus, I created two brands of products infused with hemp extract, Green Magic and Green Cures.
In early 2014, these brands became part of a publicly trading company known as Green Cures & Botanical Distribution, (formerly Triton Distribution Systems), which was formed by entrepreneurs as well as cannabis enthusiasts. The team and the product portfolio seemed very promising, so much that I even believed the company which was a start-up as well as new to the public market made some wall street and OTC investors rich – even millionaires. Although I had the opportunity of adding more than a couple of million dollars into my bank account at the beginning of this venture, my focus was to successfully build, develop and expand these brands, especially since I had decided to put my fashion project on hold.
During the following year, I continuously contributed to the development of products financially and intellectually. Also, I provided financing for the services of Nutritional Products International – a reputable health and beauty care distribution company located in Florida. It is important to know that when cannabis infused products in general started gaining interest from the consumer markets as well as setting attention from media outlets, the FDA also made its presence known. It started imposing sanctions on companies selling cannabis infused products while expressing its valid concerns about the way in which these companies were claiming their products could prevent, treat or cure certain diseases. Even Amazon.com banned the marketing and selling of products containing hemp extract from its platform. Due to these imposed sanctions and regulations, the industry in which I heavily invested not only financially but also intellectually underwent heavy scrutiny. This resulted in the inability of Green Cures and Botanical Distribution to attract long – term investors; therefore, the company was sold in late 2015.
The group that made the acquisition had experience in product placements in national chain stores, celebrity endorsements, as well as publicly trading companies. The fact is they were managing executives and associates of another OTC company by the name of New Generation Group. Here, I saw an opportunity for learning as well as potential benefits for my brands.
Throughout 2016, I continued working in the cannabis industry through my brands which were still under licensing agreement with the public company; in fact, I even assisted in the early development of other brands that were created by the new management and its consultant.
In addition, the consultant for the new management offered to buy half of my debt in the public company, and I agreed to do so. Also, I remained as an investor holding common stock which I acquired in early 2016 from the financing that I had provided back in 2014. In 2018, I learned from more thorough legal counsels that my loans into the public entity needed to be in a lock up for two years rather than one. However, having had poor counsel and not being entirely familiar with all requirements while being an investor of a publicly trading company, including in the OTC, aren’t reasons for penalties and sanctions to be forgiven through a deposition or in a court of law.
2019 was an important year for me. I had a big revelation – that my future must not rest in penny stocks, for the operators of most OTC companies are unscrupulous beyond measure. The same year, I reached a settlement with the Secretary and Exchange Commission in relation to my investments during 2016 in Green Cures and Botanical, and my association with the 3 individuals involved. This event and characters – I see as a set up for me to move into higher grounds, and a reminder of where it is that I don’t belong. With all humility and forthrightness, I must admit that even though I made errors of judgment in financial affairs by associating myself with the wrong people, my principles professionalism and work ethics cannot be judge by what I mentioned here above.
In the closing days of the year 2019, I looked back at some of the companies in which I invested and I didn’t see much had changed. Crows will always be crows, and I am grateful that our paths will never cross again.
PS: Have you ever seen or purchased any of New Generation Group "Hemp Refreshers" or Green Cures and Botanical Distribution "Hemp Water" at any online or physical store? I'm sure the answer is "no".. , below is another example of how crows fly in the OTC.
