OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A man tied to medical marijuana grow operations was arrested in Oklahoma County on Tuesday on forgery charges.
The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Shunbin Ni, is accused of submitting forged documents to the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal’s office to obtain building permits for his medical marijuana operations.
The first application came from “Ying Cultivation Inc.” in Hughes County, which led authorities to false permit filings for twenty other medical marijuana farms in 12 additional counties across the state.
The state’s Fire Marshal said inconsistencies found in the applications led to the investigation.
“We look [in the applications] for completeness of the submission, the accuracy of it, to make sure that they’re submitting all the required documentation,” said Oklahoma State Fire Marshall Keith Bryant. “We found out that these letters were more than likely fraudulently submitted and that they weren’t on the appropriate letterhead.”
After an investigation spanning several months in conjunction with the State Attorney General’s Office, Ni was arrested on March 8 on a felony warrant and charged with 21 counts of offering false or forged instrument for recordation.
Ni’s bond was set at $250,000 and he could be facing up to 42 years in prison.
Officials were unable to elaborate whether more charges could be coming.
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