Medbox CEO Strikes Back Against Citron Research

Medbox MDBX CEO Dr. Bruce Bedrick appeared on CNBC's Closing Bell Tuesday after the stock took a hit during trading Tuesday following the release of a report by Citron Research that claims the company committed fraud on the company's financial statements, among other accusations of poor ethics based in dishonesty.

“Everybody is trying to take a pot shot at us…With billions of dollars of potential, um, and knowing that ultimately when this grows up into its childhood and ultimate adolescence there's only going to be a few Yahoos and Googles that are going to make it, and Medbox is posed to do that,” said Bedrick, claiming that others will try to short them and knock them down because of this to tank their stock.

He claims that past mistakes, such as claiming revenue of nearly $2 million in Q1 of 2013, only to later reclaim it as less than $1.24 million at year's end, are because of errors on the part of the accounting firm that they were outsourcing to. He says that now they're doing their accounting in-house; also bringing in a new CFO he notes. Bedrick highlighted that reports of all discrepancies have been included on their Form 10.

“We believe that there's absolutely no basis in fact for any of the charges,” said Bedrick.

Bedrick noted enthusiasm for being one of the only companies that has filled out and submitted the Form 10.

“All of our accounting has been essentially audited and submitted to the SEC and we will let it stand for what it is,” said Bedrick.

Related: Feds Announce Guidance For Banks To Work With Marijuana Businesses

Bedrick pushed asides other claims, however, such as claiming leadership in the pharmaceuticals business without truly having a lucrative stake yet, as well as helping clients win licenses in Arizona that were actually awarded by blind lottery, with statements that boosted his companies upcoming “game-changing technology” that will change how everyone accesses their pharmaceuticals (e.g. medical marijuana dispensers). He included that the technology applies to how everyone will get their perception drugs in the future.

Bedrick also asserted that he has made it clear in the past that these drug dispensers are only in their prototypes phase. He also toted that they're a top industry consultant; claiming that Medbox is being attacked because of their “leadership” in the emerging medical marijuana industry.

This comes after last week's news that banks and legal marijuana sellers can work together.

"The market for legal marijuana is expected to exceed $3 billion this year. We are encouraged by and commend the Obama administration for its forward-thinking action to ease the issues that banks currently have in doing business with dispensary operators which Medbox directly serves. This is yet another step in what we believe will be a steady progression to legalization of marijuana in most, if not all, states in the coming years,” said Bedrick in a PR Newswire release “Medbox Responds to Critics and Issues Status Update to Company Shareholders.”

He included that they'll be a fully reporting company by next month.

Jason Cunningham had no position with the mentioned entities while writing this article. Visit Jason on Twitter at @JasonCunningham and @Benzinga.