Ex-partners in hemp operation file dueling lawsuits

BOULDER and LONGMONT — In a pair of lawsuits filed over the past several months, former partners in a hemp seed startup venture are accusing one another of a series of financial misdeeds.

Michael Leago of IHE Holdings LLC in Boulder was the first to sue, filing a complaint in U.S. District Court in Denver in November against Jeremy Ricks of Longmont-based Front Range Harvest LLC. Ricks then followed up this month with a suit of his own filed against Leago in Boulder County District Court. 

The pair, neither of whom could be reached for comment, joined forces in 2019 through a…