A Saline County businessman in bankruptcy is facing allegations that he duped his cousin into lending him nearly $400,000 for his marijuana dispensaries that allegedly turned out not to exist.
Now the family member and her husband are trying to block Ricky Don Angel of Alexander from being able to discharge that debt from his Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.
Sharon Wadkins of Waldron and her husband, Rory, said in a bankruptcy court filing that they lent Angel a total of $390,000.
The dispute dates back to December 2020, when Angel sent an email to Sharon Wadkins, his first cousin, asking for money to pay for buildings for his four marijuana dispensaries, according to the couple’s complaint filed last month in Angel’s bankruptcy case.
Angel told her that if he didn’t come up with the cash in a few days, his management company could take the four dispensaries, according to the email, which was attached to the complaint. But, he said, if he could borrow the money, he would pay her back double — or triple — within 90 days.
The Wadkinses handed over the money but weren’t repaid, according to their lawsuit.
And they later learned those dispensaries didn’t exist, according to their filing.
Angel “never had four dispensaries that he was in danger of [losing] to his management company because they did not exist,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed by their attorney, Keith Kannett of the Brister Law Firm in Alma. “The alleged reason for the request for money was a false representation or false pretense that Ricky Don Angel knew was false at the time he made it.”
During a bankruptcy proceeding, Angel “admitted that he never had four dispensaries, never built any buildings, and that he did send this email to Sharon Wadkins,” according to the complaint in bankruptcy court.
In March, Angel filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which leads to liquidation, and reported debts of $1.09 million and just $34,875 in assets.
His biggest debt is owed to the Wadkinses, which Angel listed as a personal loan.
Angel, who reports that he’s not employed, listed receiving a gross income of $28,195 in 2022 and just $19,682 in 2023.
He did list in his filing that he owned or had an ownership interest in several businesses, including Angel Insurance Agency Inc. of Little Rock between 1998 to 2020, and River Valley Dispensary LLC, a marijuana dispensary in Morrilton that he was connected to between 2018 and 2023. He also lists a business ownership connection to LRA Medical LLC, a personal protective equipment company in Little Rock that began in May 2020.
Angel’s bankruptcy attorney, Dale Duke of Little Rock, didn’t return calls seeking comment.
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