Marijuana business all smoke, no pot, says South MS couple who invested $400,000
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Couple sues over $400K investment in Green Oil cannabis firm.
- Lawsuit alleges funds were spent on luxury items, not on marijuana operations.
- SEC investigates business; Green Oil rebrands while aiming for 2025 production.
Matthew Mavar’s gym trainer kept talking about his investment in a Mississippi marijuana business and the profits it would rake in.
In June 2021, the gym trainer visited the Mavar home in Harrison County with Thomas J. “Tom” Moore III of D’Iberville to pitch an investment in Moore’s fledgling medical marijuana business, Mississippi Green Oil LLC. Moore promised significant profits.
Mavar and his wife Julie Mavar wound up investing $400,000 over time for a 3% interest in the company. They want their money back, plus triple damages.
A lawsuit that they recently filed in U.S. District Court in Gulfport describes their dealings with Moore. They accuse Moore, his company and another owner, Charles T. Hill, of conspiracy and racketeering. The civil lawsuit does not involve criminal charges. But Hill, who denies any wrongdoing, confirms the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating the business.
Mississippi Green Oil is licensed to grow and sell medical marijuana to dispensaries in the state.
Hill says that he stepped in to salvage the business in July 2024 for 22 individuals or families who invested. He found that Green Oil was beset by investor apprehension, lawsuits and a disease that attacked the marijuana plants being grown in a former tire warehouse in Prentiss.
“My conclusion is that MGO was doomed without intervention due to ignorance, stupidity, incompetence, arrogance, pride and many other things I don’t care to mention,” Hill wrote in a summary of events emailed to the Sun Herald. Moore could not be reached to comment.
The Mavars’ lawsuit describes Matthew Mavar’s frantic calls to Moore about the couple’s investment, and meetings Julie Mavar had with people who warned her that Moore was out of money.
“MGO was organized and founded by Moore on December 30, 2020, purportedly to produce and sell medical marijuana in Mississippi,” says the lawsuit, filed by attorney Thomas L. Carter of Gulfport. “But the company was from its founding a fraudulent scheme to extract investor funds through promises of financial reward without any intention of actual success.“
Coast couple invests in medical marijuana
Marijuana investors had started preparing for a Mississippi market by 2020, when voters approved a ballot initiative that legalized medical marijuana. The state Supreme Court rejected the ballot process, however, leading to legislative approval of medical marijuana in 2022.
Moore was lining up investors ahead of the legislative vote.
The Mavars didn’t invest after their initial visit with Moore but they discussed the prospects and decided some months later it would be a good idea. A fraudulent financial prospectus for Green Oil showed projected revenue of $64.8 million with expenses of only $1.5 million, the lawsuit says.
“Moore told the Mavars that these financial numbers were conservative and that he believed profits would be tens of millions of dollars higher,” the lawsuit says.
The Mavars liquidated mutual funds for their initial $300,000 investment in Green Oil. They met Moore and the gym trainer, referred to in the lawsuit as “John Doe,” at a Biloxi Waffle House in December 2021 to sign the investment agreement and transfer the money, their lawsuit says. About two years later, their lawsuit says, they took out a second mortgage to invest another $100,000.
The Mavars’ lawsuit contends investment funds were spent on “expensive personal trucks, lavish meals, living expenses, luxury goods, and on casino gambling, out-of-state vacations and trips” and other purchases unrelated to the business.
The Mavars’ lawsuit is the latest of four that Green Oil investors filed in federal courts, alleging they were scammed. The first lawsuit was filed in Louisiana in October 2023 against Moore Companies, Tom Moore’s land development company. The investor was granted a default judgment to recoup his $300,000 investment, plus costs. Moore never responded to the lawsuit.
Two lawsuits in Georgia followed. Both were filed against Moore, Hill and Mississippi Green Oil in 2024 and indicated both Moore and Hill urged them to invest in Green Oil. A Georgia widow invested $300,000 on the promise she would be repaid in 30 days and have an ownership interest in the company, her lawsuit said.
She was not repaid. Two Georgia men who filed suit together said they invested $200,000 based on the same unfulfilled promises from both Moore and Hill.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also was investigating Green Oil, Hill acknowledged, saying he has cooperated fully and provided his records on the company to the agency.
GA, LA, MS investors sue company
Hill acknowledges that he introduced the Georgia investors to Moore and the Green Oil business. He said that he was living on Galveston Island in July 2024 when Hurricane Beryl struck and destroyed his house. He wound up for a time in Miami, he said, but eventually moved to Mississippi to take over Green Oil.
State records list him for the first time as a member of the company a month after the hurricane. He said that he took over as plant manager but wanted to get the lawsuits settled before investing more money in the Prentiss building. Court records show both cases had been dismissed by the end of 2024.
The Mavars’ lawsuit says that Hill, by this time company president, informed investors in January 2025 that Green Oil had settled “all outstanding grievances and lawsuits” for $1.2 million. Hill said that Tom Moore has given up much of his stake in the company so the Green Oil grow house can be completed.
Also, he said, investments from an Alabama couple saved the company from bankruptcy. Other investors have not been asked for more money, he said. “I thought they had been through enough,” Hill said.
He said a security system, air conditioning and electrical systems have been installed, and other work on the building in Prentiss is being completed. He took members of the Jefferson Davis Sheriff’s Office on a tour Thursday, he said, after enjoying a barbecue that included the Prentiss mayor and members of the Board of Aldermen. Prentiss police officers and SWAT team members have also toured the building, he said.
Because the lawsuits have damaged its reputation, he said, Green Oil is now doing business as Simply Marvelous. By year three, he said, the building should be at full capacity, producing about 2,000 pounds of marijuana a year. The product will go to dispensaries either as pre-rolled cigarettes or flower — buds that can be smoked. The business should bring in $1,000 to $1,500 per pound after expenses, he said.
He expects to have full-grown marijuana plants in the next few months, with product in dispensaries by Christmas.
“I need to get this building up and cash flowing by the end of 2025,” Hill said. “I hope everyone will be patient. If they keep suing me, I’ll take my toys and go back to the beach.
“I’m part of the solution. I’m not part of the problem.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 10:25 AM.
