Bellingham man faces 11 felonies after probe of $400,000 cannabis investment
Whatcom County authorities have arrested a suspect following a monthslong fraud investigation.
Jason Kenneth Lehman, 46, of Bellingham allegedly convinced multiple family members and friends to invest in cannabis stores that did not exist, and eight people invested $400,000 into the scam, according to Amy Cloud with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
The first relative to invest in the program soon began an investigation that showed none of the cannabis stores were real business locations. When investors confronted Lehman during a meeting, he admitted on the record the stores “did not exist and never would,” Cloud told The Herald. At the meeting, Lehman told investors he would find a way to repay them but never did, Cloud said.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) received the investigation from the FBI in August 2024, according to Cloud.
In September detectives began interviewing investors, and a search warrant was requested (which took several months to obtain) and was served on Lehman’s financial records, according to Deb Slater with the WCSO.
The search warrant revealed Lehman had not been working and was receiving unemployment benefits. However, he was making payments on a pair of vehicles while appearing to “spend money on personal luxuries [including] hundreds of pairs of shoes,” Cloud said.
Probable cause to arrest Lehman was established in April, and authorities made several attempts to contact him. He was arrested Sept. 30 at his home in Sudden Valley, Slater said.
Lehman was taken to Whatcom County Jail and has since been bonded out of custody. He has been charged with five counts of first-degree theft, five counts of money laundering and one count of use of proceeds of criminal profiteering for a total of 11 class B felonies.
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