Pot-Fraud Plotter Gets $17 Million Forfeiture Cut to $103,750

A consultant for a marijuana company once labeled the “Uber of pot” was ordered to forfeit $103,750 -- down from $17.2 million originally -- for defrauding banks into processing cannabis purchases.

Hamid Akhavan was found guilty along with Ruben Weigand in March of bank fraud for duping institutions including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. into processing more than $150 million in weed purchases from dispensaries associated with Eaze Technologies Inc. They used shell companies and fake websites to disguise shipments as packages of other items including dog food and face creams.

Akhavan, the leader of the scheme, was ...